Dear Pine Grove Community Members, Partners, and Allies,
Please make a public comment on behalf of the historic Black Pine Grove Community in rural Cumberland County, Virginia, where we are fighting a mega-landfill permit by the Canadian company, Green Ridge Recycling LLC (GR). For this permit, ACE and DEQ must not limit their evaluations to clean water and wetlands impacts. They must consider the cumulative impacts of the project, the need for the project, and
whether it is in the public interest: “the need for and benefits of the landfill against its reasonable and foreseeable detriments.”
The list of required evaluations that ACE & DEQ must consider includes: (1) harms to historic and cultural resources; (2) disproportionate impacts on environmental justice communities; (3) noise and air pollution impacts; (4) fish and wildlife evaluation; (5) general environmental concerns; and (6) the needs and welfare of the people. [Link to original ACE permit with this information with the Aug 28 deadline, now Sept. 28, 2022, 5pm]:
Ask that the ACE/DEQ PERMIT BE DENIED: Choose your reasons, talking points
1. ACE and DEQ did not conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Green Ridge’s preferred site, including an environmental justice review, under NEPA and VA EJ Act. Federal law and Virginia permit statute require comparative evaluation of GR’s 3 alternative sites, including for environmental [in]justice and Black historic resources preservation to determine if “there are reasonable alternatives to the GR’s proposal.” They must not rely on GR’s determinations that no EIS is required. Or, that environmental justice was analyzed by the applicant.
2. ACE and DEQ did not hold a local in-person comment hearing. The Corps must expand public comment opportunities by holding a local, accessible, in-person hearing. In Cumberland County, many rural and low-income people do not have internet or computer access to create written public comments. Far more local directly impacted people will be seen, heard and recorded giving specific evidence to the harms this facility will cause.
Pine Grove Community Members: Why do you disagree with ACE’s statement: ““Preliminary review indicates that … no environmental impact statement will be required”? Please ask for a permit denial, emphasizing what the threats from the landfill mean to you and yours personally (health, historic legacy, smell, property values, traffic, noise, well water contamination, see links to topic templates below).
Talking Points on required evaluations for ACE & DEQ
- Historic Preservation and Impacts on the Pine Grove Tuskegee-Rosenwald School, now on the National and State Historic Register of Landmarks and the historic register eligible Pine Grove Rural Historic District
- Toxic Waste Pollution and Health Threats
- Pediatric Mental Health and Well-Being
- General Summary of Impacts
- Former Resident Comment Template
Each of the above-mentioned Talking Points may be viewed here on our website: https://www.ammdpinegroveproject.com/take-action in the “Make An Impact” section.
Comments can be sent by email to:
steven.a.vanderploeg@usace.army.mil Subject Heading: CENAO-WRR NAO-2018-00995 Green Ridge Landfill Comment or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: Steven VanderPloeg), CENAO-WRR NAO-2018-00995 Green Ridge Landfill Comment, 9100 Arboretum Parkway, Suite 235, Richmond, Virginia 23236.
Comments must be received by Sept. 28 at 5pm. Support is available with AMMD-Pine Grove Project to help with emailing: lakshmi.fjord@gmail.com; storytellermuriel4@gmail.com.
Thank you for your time and attention.
AMMD Pine Grove Project
