Public Health & Safety
The well at Carrboro's MLK park is scheduled for destruction. The community gardeners have researched the possibility of using the well by addressing town, gardening and community concerns. Thankful that the well has not been filled yet, we are hopeful that this new information for the town may lead to the most informed decision for Carrboro.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. is the Carrboro Board of Alderman meeting. Please come out and support this community effort.
Dear Carrboro Board of Aldermen and Staff,
Here is the press release that I sent out on behalf of the six local government delegates who participated in the recent meeting with Congressman Price on nuclear safety.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2007
Congressman Price Seeks Review of Fire Enforcement of Nuclear Plants
Local officials applaud David Price, and reveal further delays at all Progress Energy plants
Officials from six local governments in North Carolina thanked Congressman David Price today for seeking an investigation into the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's enforcement of fire safety regulations at nuclear power plants. The officials also revealed new information showing that Shearon Harris plant owner Progress Energy has again fallen years behind in its latest promise to correct longstanding fire safety violations – a prime risk factor for a nuclear meltdown – at Harris and at the company's other four reactors in the Southeast.
Last Friday, delegates from six local government bodies met with Congressman David Price to discuss concerns about fire safety and related issues at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Of particular focus was the concern that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has not been fulfilling its responsibility for regulatory enforcement. Since the chemical plant fire in Apex, safety questions at Shearon Harris have garnered increased local scrutiny as have uncertainties surrounding evacuation procedures.
In attendance were:
Mark Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill Town Council
Randy Voller, Mayor of Pittsboro
Mike Nelson, Orange County Commission
Tom Vanderbeck, Chatham County Commission
Mike Gering, Hillsborough Board of Commissioners
Dan Coleman, Carrboro Board of Aldermen
[Jim Warren of NCWARN also attended as a resource]
In addition to the fire safety issue, the following areas were discussed:
-spent fuel storage
-adequacy of evacuation planning
-threats to nuclear facilities
As printed in the Chapel Hill Herald on Saturday, April 28th:
Last week a number of neighbors of Freedom House, an addiction and mental illness treatment center in northern Chapel Hill, came out to speak against a proposed expansion of the facility.
Most of their concerns centered on safety. One neighbor, Cingai Chen, summed up the rhetoric pretty well by saying, "We are very worried about some day those patients will create a safety concern for our community."
The operative words in that statement are "some day." The reality is that Freedom House has been in our community for more than three decades and there have never been problems. It's a well-run place with tremendous success stories and has never created anything resembling a crime problem. There's no reason to believe expanding the facility would change that.
One point that caught my attention in last Saturday's meeting to discuss Carrboro's Northern Study Area was the idea of "metro-farming". The current plan includes:
ENCOURAGE “METRO-FARMINGâ€Â: Encourage the conservation of active farmland within new conservation subdivisions and elsewhere in the Study Area, with emphasis on nontraditional crops or uses (high-value vegetables, pick-your-own berries, apples, etc.) and community-supported agriculture (community gardening, wholesale nurseries, commercial stables, etc.). Metro-farming should be promoted by a special committee that would look into ways to make Use Value Assessments more common and frequently applied.
Yet this is an idea which has not yet been realized. With changing patterns of food consumption and agriculture, the availability of arable land available for small scale agriculture will become increasingly important in the future.
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