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Letter to the Editor: The wrong approach

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Staff

I applaud and thank the BOCC for their decision to delay the vote on the Howell forest property in rural Orange County in order to gather additional information. It was a nice Earth Day gift. Consider this following quote from the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“The transportation sector is the second-largest and fastest-growing contributor to global warming pollution in the United States, in large part due to steadily rising number of miles that cars and trucks travel each year.…While there has been a federal focus on increasing fuel economy of vehicles and decreasing carbon content in fuels, these strategies alone will not be enough to slow and reverse overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. The number of miles that vehicles travel is the critical, but often forgotten, ‘third leg’ of the transportation stool.”

Turns out, this Earth Day gift was just a stocking stuffer, because the Howell property still remains the only site under consideration. It is both far from the source of trash production and far from any major highway. To access I-40 or I-85 from the Howell site, you must either drive back where you came from in town or drive in the opposite direction from the trash’s ultimate destination by going up 54 West. Do we really want fingers pointed at Orange County as a prime example of our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from such excessive and unnecessary mileage? We shouldn’t have to pay the resulting huge gas bill indefinitely, and we may not be able to without cutting other areas of service.

The most direct route from Hillsborough would be up and down Orange Grove Road, and from Chapel Hill North, up and down Dairyland. These roads are heavily trafficked by farm machinery and bicyclists. Add to all the above, the fact that the site hosts wetlands and potential endangered wildlife, has no running water and no sewer, and does not perc.

Additionally, no studies have been done about how runoff will impact the Haw River.

Yet, what are the pros? As articulated by Commissioner Jacobs, there are only two: the unincorporated area does not have any elected officials to say “no” (except the BOCC themselves), and that Mr. Howell was a willing seller.

Commissioner Yuhasz’s comment that “We will go out of our way to make it work” should bother anyone who cares about the environment and about minimizing our tax expenses. Good leadership from our BOCC would include nixing this bad idea, and starting an honest search for a fiscally and environmentally responsible solution.

Susan Houck
Bingham Township

1 thought on “Letter to the Editor: The wrong approach”

  1. Wally Williams says:
    May 1, 2009 at 6:14 am

    Olver corporation has gone out of their way “to make it work” for the BOCC?

    They reduced the size of the facility and indicated only 25 acres will be purchased. But does Howell offer only 25 acres “freely”? Yet this is how Olver could make the claim that alternate methods were marginally more expensive.

    Olver has consistently led the BOCC to this faulty site conclusion.

    It is past time for the BOCC to seek a new consulting firm!

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