YOUR RIGHTS TO QUESTION NC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ARE LITERALLY GOING UP THE RIVER TODAY

YOU’VE DONE NOTHING AND NOW YOU ARE ABOUT TO LOSE YOUR RIGHTS TO QUESTION ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MADE BY THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

BOARD MEMBERS HAVE MEETING WITH NC STATE SENATORS THIS AFTERNOON TO TRY TO CHANGE HOUSE BILL 795, WHILE THE BILL ITSELF SAILS BY FIRST READING IN SENATE.

Even as members of the board of the Roanoke River Basin Association and supporters from other groups, interested in halting or at least slowing the sale of 10 million gallons a day of Kerr Lake water to Franklin County and beyond, prepare to meet this afternoon with Senator Angela Bryant who represents the Kerr Lake area and other senators, the hurried passage of HB 795 being pushed by big business and Governor Pat McCrory is getting closer and closer.  The RRBA and legislators meet this afternoon in Room 414 of the Legislative Office Building.

Simply put, House Bill 795 would greatly eliminate the public, that’s you, from commenting or issuing a formal opinion about practically all of the environmental policy and rule changes made in North Carolina.  It would eliminate most of the public notices now required and right now would hurry along the implementation of the Inter Basin Transfer of water from Kerr Lake to Franklin County and beyond.

Kerr Lake Park Watch’s position is that that allocation made by the Corps of Engineers is for development of the poor Tier One counties around the lake and to keep that water within the same basin.  That concept has been hammered to public officials by KLPW, the RRBA, the Sierra Club and a group called Preserve Our NC Lakes Community.  What may be thousands of emails from citizens objecting to this transfer and to the overall changing of input was called a few emails in an address by DENR official Tom Franzen last week to the Henderson City Council which is the water power behind the transfer which would add millions of dollars to the city’s coffers.

“Go ahead and sit there at your TV or computer and do nothing and they will legislate your damn freedoms right away from you,” said a perturbed KLPW Frank Timberlake.  “The legislators have ignored and are ignoring the public’s plea for an Environmental Impact Study.  The media has either been told to back off this story or either they just can’t see the public’s right to government input being taken away.  DENR was the agency that said coal ash ponds were ok and you want me to have them making policy without public input?  I don’t think so.”

Timberlake is urging anyone who is involved not just with Kerr Lake but any aspect of the environment to stop today, right now and call their state senator and say, “Just put the brakes on this until we can all catch a breath and stop that IBT on Kerr Lake.”  Here’s a direct link to your senator’s phone and email:  http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/memberList.pl?sChamber=senate.

By the way, next week, maybe even tomorrow will be too late.