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PCS Phosphate DEIS Supplement
Background
In 1997, PCS was granted a permit to impact greater than 1,260 acres of wetlands, the largest permitted destruction of wetlands in the history of North Carolina. Now the company has plans to expand its mining into an even more sensitive location.
In 2006, PCS Phosphate, Inc. applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit to impact and fill in 2,408 acres of wetlands and waters of the state for the purpose of continuing their mining operations along South Creek and the Pamlico River in eastern Beaufort County.
Approximately 900 acres of wetlands are destroyed each year in NC. The company's new alternative aims to destroy over 2,000 acres in the first 11 years of mining and more than 4,500 acres over 40 years, as well as miles of streams immediately adjacent to the already threatened Pamlico River.
The request for the company's preferred mining expansion location was denied because it would result in a significant negative impact to aquatic resources of national importance and thus did not comply with the Clean Water Act.
On November 6, 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers released a supplement to the 2006 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to evaluate environmental impacts at several alternative locations. The supplement provides detailed information on two new alternatives, labeled "L" and "M". The Corps is asking for public input on the supplement to the 2006 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It is important to note, that the new alternatives are more destructive than other practicable alternatives in the 2006 DEIS.
Talking Points
- Alternatives L and M only avoid wetlands where convenient, and do not avoid and minimize impacts to the maximum extent practicable as required by law. These alternatives cannot be permitted under the Clean Water Act.
- PCS' current preferred mine plan would mine and destroy greater than 7 miles of streams, 4,500 acres of wetlands and 75 acres of important stream riparian ecosystems.
- The NC Division of Water Quality has stated there are not enough acres in the basin for PCS to fulfill their legal requirement to replace vegetative buffers along streams. After learning of this information, the company asked the state to reduce their obligation to replace the stream buffers from ratios the law currently requires.
- Portions of the area PCS wishes to mine will destroy federally
designated Essential Fish Habitat for bluefish, summer flounder, shrimp, red drum, snapper, and grouper.
- This is the largest vertically integrated phosphate mine and chemical facility in the world. The process to permit a project with unprecented impacts for the state of NC takes time. By applying and aggressively pushing forward with an unpermittable alternative from the beginning, the company was the reason for the lengthened time needed to analyze legal alternatives. The Corps must not fold to pressure from the company and politicians on self-created time constraints by PCS.
- The company's strategy continues to be the same, saying that new alternative "M" is their absolute bottom line that the Corps "must" permit. They stated the same message with the another alternative site (“AP”) from 2000-2006 and used the same argument in 1997. What is the economic truth? The company's so-called bottom line continues to change.
- When the Corps determined that the company could profitably avoid significant stretches of wetlands, PCS altered their cost-model to attempt to reach the outcome they desired, more extensive mining in the most environmentally sensitive areas, citing economic constraints.
- This mine will close, as all mines do. What do we want left behind for Beaufort County?
- After its mining damages the Pamlico River and South Creek and its tributaries, PCS will not be able to put things back the way they were. State and federal biologists agree with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which acknowledges a complete destruction of habitat in the mine areas and a drastic change of the landscape.
- This company does not have a strong track record. To date, PCS has only reclaimed 14% of the greater than 7700 acres it has mined over the last 40 years.
- Levels of toxic metals, such as cadmium, chromium, zinc, and arsenic are elevated in PCS' reclaimed areas compared to a natural site. These metals are highly toxic to aquatic and terrestrial life. This is a long-term threat not adequately addressed in the DEIS.
- The Corps must not compare the costs of viable alternatives to the company's preferred alternative; that preferred alternative was found to be illegal under the Clean Water Act.
- In 1996 Beaufort County commercial fisherman generated nearly 5 million dollars. In 2002, that amount declined to $2.2 million. Much of this decline is due to a diminishing population of commercial fish and water quality and habitat degradation.
- In fact, approximately 75% of commercially and recreationally viable fish and shellfish species spend all or a portion of their lives in the estuaries and primary nursery areas, the same type of areas PCS wants to mine.
- The Albemarle-Pamlico sound is one of the most productive North American fisheries, generating thousands of jobs and over $1 billion dollars annually.
- The federal and state governments have recognized the importance of protecting all types of wetlands, even those that may be dry on the surface part of the year, to protect water quality, provide flood control, provide habitat for commercial and recreational fish and shellfish species, and to act as a buffer from storm surges.
What to Ask of the Corps of Engineers
The Corps must fulfill its mandate to uphold the Clean Water Act and only permit the mine advance (expansion) when it is completely clear that wetland and stream impacts have been avoided and minimized to the maximum extent possible. Furthermore, the Corps can only permit the alternative that is truly the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative (LEDPA).- PCS should be required to provide adequate buffers between its mine and the Pamlico River, South Creek, Durham Creek and tributaries and permanently protect those buffers for the future.
- Any areas avoided by this permit must be permanently avoided and placed into Conservation Easement.
- No mining or the subsequent reclamation practices should be allowed that could result in the release of cadmium and other toxic substances known to be present in the mine fill into the environment. Furthermore, the state should require extensive, long-term groundwater monitoring and stream soil monitoring to ensure that any toxic release will be identified and remedied in a quick fashion.
*Comment Deadline December 21, 2007. Click here to submit online now!
For more information contact: Heather Jacobs, Pamlico-Tar RIVERKEEPER®, Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, 252-946-7211 or riverkeeper@ptrf.org. To view more information on the web, go to: www.ptrf.org.
