Autonomy for local air pollution control agency challenged

By Candice Carr

Asheville, North Carolina, Apr. 18-- Tuesday night, Asheville held a special forum for public comment on the future of our Regional Air Pollution Control Agency. This meeting was called and announced with very short notice, but the room was overflowing and applause was often heard from the group in the hallway outside. There were a couple of county commissioners there even though they'd preferred to wait on holding the meeting. The turnout was easily over a hundred. Citizen after citizen got up and speak about why they felt that the board of this agency must remain local and autonomous.

The Air Pollution Control Agency has been in existence for about 30 years but it was only recently that it has become effective. The agency is run by a board of 7 people from Haywood County, Buncombe County, and the City of Asheville. (Recently, Haywood County withdrew from the board, but they will not actually leave until midsummer). In 1996, when there was a public outcry about the permitting of an asphalt plant slated to be built right in downtown Asheville, people woke up to the fact that this little autonomous (not under a state agency) regulatory entity existed to give out permits and supposedly to fine industries that exceeded their permitted pollution limits. They'd been giving the bare minimum in fines, but after there was an investigative report in the Citizen-Times, the board spent a lot of time defending their decisions and their jobs. But as local air quality deteriorated, public opinion remained cynical about their effectiveness. Last year, a few of the positions on the board came up for re-election, and a couple of environmentally aware people were appointed by the city. Since then, their progress has been marked in the Mountain Xpress and it has been an inspiration to many. For many environmental policy students at UNCA, this is a case study in local governance and its effectiveness, and also the challenges it faces.

When County manager Wanda Green recommended to the County Commissioners that the Air Pollution Control Agency be taken over by county government, many were immediately taken aback. Such a rearrangement would dissolve the board of scientists and experts and put the fate of our lungs in the hands of the county, which already has a lot to regulate. Green did not consult the board itself to ask what they had been doing and how, or the local Buncombe Co Environmental Affairs Board, as was pointed out by a woman from the Env. Affairs Board at the forum Tuesday night. Some at the forum said that they would rather see the agency go under the state regulatory institution rather than the county's, as the State actually has a better law enforcement record.

The forum was noteworthy for the solidarity of the message within the diversity of interests of those present. Everyone wanted to keep the board local and autonomous, but it wasn't just activists and students and professors and parents and elderly people and physicians --all of whom are primarily concerned with the public health. It was also business people, and as one man explained himself, "a republican capitalist real estate agent", who expressed that he could no longer come up with fibs when industry reps came out to look at a site and asked what that brown line of haze over Asheville was. He said that from his veranda, when Asheville can be seen, it is an increasingly hazy sight. He said that if these companies were smart, they would clean up their act and sell the chemical potions they emit as air pollution to other companies who can use them to make other products, or even make their own new product with these pollutants. The corporation he cited as the best example was 3M. He said that high air pollution standards attract these more progressive and responsible corporations who are better suited to survival in the 21st century without being bought out by some Japanese corporation.

Earth First activist Ed Stein said that "if we want to see the future, it's at the top of Mount Mitchell." The trees are dead on the western side, a grim sight that leaves an ominous feeling with hikers. Many testified about asthma problems and the need to move away from the air in Asheville, as it was too dangerous to go out hiking in the forest.

Many were there to offer solutions to our growing air problem, including members of the pollution control board itself. Dr. Maas, chair of Environmental Studies at UNCA, informed us that much of our problem is in fact car emissions, and that we need to find alternatives to cars for Asheville like a park and ride system and bike lanes. Many students are in favor of creating Asheville bike lanes as well.

Mayor Sitnick said that it was great to see so many students out and that it reminded her of her days as an environmental rabble-rouser. She also mentioned how gratifying it was to be mayor of a town like Asheville, where you can look out into the public and recognize people on a first name basis because so many are politically active. There was overwhelming advice to the county commissioners and city council to keep politics out of this public health issue. There was support for making the agency more inclusive, extending to create seats for other WNC counties, and working with other regional air pollution related agencies. Susan Andrew mentioned that while there were 52 code-red ozone days last summer, when it was advised that healthy adults not go outside and breathe, only 20% of our air pollution is locally generated. Interlocal communication is imperative to confront the other 80% of that problem.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is part of the problem, with their grandfathered, illegally polluting coal-burning power plants in Appalachia. Perhaps the future holds promising changes if air quality boards in the region are given more clout and room to do the right thing.

Dee Eggers is a policy teacher at UNCA who grew up in Oregon and watched this happen to Seattle. She made it clear that we are all studying the actions that the council and commissioners take on this issue. Many see it as a social justice issue. The viewpoint was unanimous that the city and county should leave the agency alone to continue doing it’s job enforcing the law.

Black activist wins in court

Greenville, SC, Apr. 24-- Flanked by local and national supporters, activist lawyer Efia Nwangaza and the anti-police brutality movement won a small victory on Monday, April 24th. Although Nwangaza and her supporters felt the charges should have been dismissed, a circuit court judge sent her jury tampering allegations to magistrate's court.

The charges brought by Greenville County law enforcement officials were manufactured to silence her, their biggest critic. If Nwangaza is found in contempt of court at the magistrate level, she will face up to 12 hours in jail and a $20 fine instead of the six months and $1,000 fine possible at the circuit court level. Circuit Judge C. Victor Pyle, Jr. ruled he didn't have jurisdiction to hear allegations out of magistrate's court and remanded the case back to Chief Magistrate Diane Cagle.

Efia Nwangaza has become the subject of a criminal investigation and anticipated South Carolina Bar disciplinary proceedings because she dared to fight police harassment of Africans in Greenville County. The trigger for events leading to Nwangaza's predicament was the shooting death of a sheriff's deputy outside of a Waffle House restaurant. The deputy and other officers were called to the scene to quell a "disturbance" involving a number of young Africans. Despite substantial evidence that the deputy was killed by another officer's bullet, prosecutors charged two young African men with the murder. Nwangaza was retained to represent one member of the "Waffle House 2."

In the immediate aftermath of the killing, police chose to retaliate against the entire Black community by launching "Operation Clean Sweep." Each weekend, an army of cops descended on the community and set up roadblocks where they stopped hundreds for Driving While Black or Brown (DWB). In one weekend, they were reported to have made 119 arrests, and issued 569 tickets.

Nwangaza is a local coordinator of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and also an Executive Board member of the National October 22nd Coalition To Stop Police Brutality, Repression and Criminalization of a Generation. She took a leading role in a campaign launched by these organizations to educate the community about their rights during encounters with the police. Among other things, the campaign involved the distribution of flyers about the rights of those who are stopped for DWB. Demonstrations were also organized to highlight police harassment and the case of the Waffle House 2.

Nwangaza’s charges stem from her activism, specifically from handing out ACLU DWB cards outside the Greenville courthouse on August 25, 1999, while she was representing a client on trial there. When the case was called, the magistrate refused to allow Nwangaza's client to enter a plea. The magistrate then produced a copy of the pocket card, said that she did not allow organizations to post any messages in her courthouse, and asked the solicitor what she thought should be done. The solicitor said she thought that the SC Law Enforcement Division should be asked to conduct an investigation. The magistrate accepted the recommendation and continued the case, refusing to accept the client's plea.

The complaint by Solicitor Robert M. "Bob" Ariail followed. To this day, Cagle has continued to refuse to accept the client's plea.

In the past 5 years, seventeen people have been killed by Greenville law enforcement officers, primarily sheriff's deputies. In every instance, Solicitor Bob Ariail has joined with Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown to protect killer deputies. South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon has refused to investigate or prosecute, except for an African-American deputy who accidentally killed a white woman in an auto wreck. However, both men have had no difficulty in rushing to prosecute Efia Nwangaza for educating and organizing the community to defend itself against police brutality, repression, and the criminalization of a generation.

Attorneys who are willing to take on controversial and unpopular issues should not have to suffer reprisals. The racially motivated practice of fabricating charges against freedom fighting lawyers in an attempt to silence them through disbarment, incarceration, and fines must be stopped immediately. Contact the authorities and voice your concern.

For more information, contact: October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, 1-888-NO-BRUTALITY.

Citizens organize against Wal-Mart plot

By Eamon Martin

Asheville, North Carolina, Apr. 26-- The largest private employer in the US and number one leader in grocery sales worldwide has made designs on becoming even bigger with not one, but two new "Super" stores in Asheville. With the prospect of tripling their profits within the city, Wal-Mart is planning to replace the existing stores on Tunnel Road and Hendersonville Road. Responding to a variety of issues raised in the wake of this corporate expansionist plot, a growing number of concerned Asheville residents are organizing to halt the Wal-Mart project.

On March 23, a citizens’ committee calling themselves Community Supported Development (CSD) formed out of a meeting initiated by Clean Water Fund of North Carolina (CWFNC) with the owners of the former Sayles Bleachery. The bleachery is one of the proposed Wal-Mart locations. CWFNC states that the Swannanoa River site is located on a floodplain and that the group is organizing "for the purpose of pointing out the unsuitability of a major 24 hour shopping center on this location."

Redwood Forest resident Ned Guttman says, "those of us who live in East Asheville are against the project because we don’t think it’s appropriate for that site. We have serious concerns about flooding, about traffic, about noise, (among) other things."

However, at a CSD meeting held today, Guttman’s concerns were echoed by other Ashevillians, many of whom live in other parts of the city, but are just as bothered by the Wal-Mart plan. Also during the course of the group’s discussion, it became apparent that their grievances against the mega-corporation were as manifold as they were diverse.

"The loss of Biltmore Hardware is an appalling cultural tragedy in this community," says Rusty Sivils, pointing to the escalated extinction of small businesses and local cultures that a rising tide of critics, internationally, say is an inevitable result of "Wal-Martization."

"It’s been estimated that for each Wal-Mart store in existence, 100 family-owned businesses have gone under," says Bill Quinn, author of the book "How Wal-Mart is Destroying America --And What You Can Do About It."

"Wal-Mart’s arrival will probably be accompanied by a fair amount of excitement and anticipation. A lot of people in your town will want to have a Wal-Mart. They’ll see all the advantages of having a big discounter around, probably without seeing the costs to the town and the life they have known."

"One of the biggest prizes Wal-Mart offers to struggling small towns is the promise of more jobs. But for every job created by Wal-Mart, at least 1.5 jobs are lost. The biggest reason for this is that Wal-Mart typically employs from 65 to 70 people for every $10 million in sales; other small businesses employ 106 people for each $10 million in sales. So Wal-Mart can do more business and pay less for employee salaries --and it will. This is one of the great cornerstones of Wal-Mart’s success."

"It’s also worth remembering that many of the jobs Wal-Mart offers are part-time and low-paying. And perhaps 60 to 70 percent of (Wal-Mart) workers have no health insurance. All are being paid a low retail wage, and all are subject to work shortage or layoff at the slightest downturn in sales," says Quinn.

These socioeconomic issues aren’t the only ones that have been following the retailing giant, though. Reportedly over 100 anti-Wal-Mart websites have blossomed on the internet in recent years, many of them expressly designed in outrage over the company’s notoriously dismal history of sweatshop factory contracting abroad. And for employees stateside as well, Wal-Mart has earned an impeccable reputation as a union-buster. In accordance with the company’s policy on advancement, many workers are required to pass a written examination by correctly answering questions such as "Why are unions bad?" after viewing an hour-long video explaining Wal-Mart’s firm stance on the issue.

Apparently, Wal-Mart has it’s sight already set on the Sayles land. The owners of the land have contracted with real estate developers JDN Development. The company has designed blueprints detailing a stunning vision of sprawling asphalt in store for the Swannanoa River site. This "Super Wal-Mart" would be nearly three times the size of the Tunnel Road store. If built as planned, the store would distinguish Asheville as the site of one of the largest Wal-Mart stores in the entire world.

On April 17, 45 concerned citizens attended the first hearing on JDN’s application convened by the City’s Technical Review Committee (TRC). Action was postponed on the finding that the application was incomplete.

This land dispute is far from over though, and Community Supported Development is currently meeting to make sure that the public will become informed about the many issues the Wal-Mart deal will inevitably raise. For more information, contact CWFNC at #251-1291.