More than 150 citizens of the Qualla community in Jackson County met at the Qualla community building, April 30, to discuss a proposed asphalt plant in the neighborhood.

Mark Fortner, who wants to build the plant, and his father spoke to the crowd about the project. Nearly everyone at the meeting was opposed to the plant. Fortner, who owns HMC Paving, refused to say how that would affect his decision. He did say he would consider the input he heard from area residents.

Fortner has applied for a permit, he told the crowd. That process could take as little as two months or as long as six. Even if permitting was approved and he decided to build the plant, construction would not begin before this winter.

Fortner told the crowd that asphalt plants were not “big polluters,” and that health risks had been “blown out of proportion.”

He argued that because he would have to meet 2001 regulations, his plant would be cleaner than the nearby Harrison APAC facility in Dillsboro and could actually reduce emissions in the region. Fortner also noted that his plant would be only about one-third the size of the Dillsboro plant.

He said the plant would occupy only one acre of the 12-acre tract (the old Worley farm) that his family purchased.

“No one will know it’s there unless they are looking for it,” Fortner said. He “guaranteed” citizens would not be able to hear, smell or see the plant from Smoky Mountain Elementary School or the new recreation center Cherokee is planning to build in the area.

According to Fortner, North Carolina Division of Air Quality (DAQ) regulations regarding the permitting of asphalt plants are among the most stringent in the country.

“The state won’t allow the plant to pollute,” Fortner said.

He told the crowd if the plant passed the state’s permitting protocol that no one in the area would be adversely affected by emissions.

Jerry Star of Macon County spoke to the crowd about his fight against an asphalt plant in his community.

Starr is a founder of NACAP - Neighbors Against the Cullasaja Asphalt Plant - a group that unsuccessfully opposed the Rhodes Brothers plant in Macon County. He disputed Fortner’s claim that state permitting was adequate protection.

Star told the group the SCREEN3 model (the computer model used by the state for permitting), “has a margin of error of 600 percent.” He also stated the only requirements mandated by DAQ after permitting was approved was an opacity reading ( a visual assessment of air quality) once every five years.

Others in the audience noted that SCREEN3 does not take into account air inversions, a common phenomenon in the mountains which traps pollutants near the surface.

Some in the community felt they had been deceived. James Worley, whose sister was one of the sellers of the property, said his sister was told the property would be used for a bed and breakfast and/or riding stables.

“If my sister had known an asphalt plant was being considered, she would have never sold,” said Worley.

Fortner’s assurances that DAQ regulations would be sufficient to protect the public did little to assuage the community’s concerns about health-related problems. According to NACAP documents, pollutants emitted from asphalt plants include nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, carbon monoxide, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde and others.

Residents also expressed concerns regarding property values. Fortner said his plant would have no adverse effect on property values. He said nearby commercial property values might actually rise.
In response, Star said that property values around a plant in Avery County had fallen by 50 percent.

Marion Jones, a 63-year resident of the area, said that this was the first public meeting he had ever attended. Jones owns property across the Tuckaseigee River from the proposed plant. He acknowledged Fortner’s legal right to build the plant, but urged him to reconsider.

“If I was doing something on my property that caused this many people to come out, I don’t believe I would do it,” Jones said.

Participants brought up the issue of land-use planning and zoning. Fortner, a Swain County resident, said no one was more surprised than he to discover Jackson County had no zoning. He said he learned there were no land-use regulations when he went to the Jackson County commissioners to discuss the project.

Local resident and Jackson County Planning Board member William Shelton said he was thrilled to see such a turnout. He noted the crowd was comprised of people with different political and social ideologies united by a common cause.

“We finally have an issue big enough to bring us all together. We have a right as a community to have a say. A community can come together and create community zoning,” Shelton said.

He urged the group to “take the ball and run with it.” He said the community may not be able to stop this plant, but they could plan for the future.

Robert Franz, who helped coordinate the meeting, said the asphalt plant was just “the tip of the iceberg,” and that the community needed meaningful smart-growth regulations. He said the group planned to petition Jackson County commissioners for a moratorium on construction of the plant and to also meet with representatives from the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League to discuss strategies for opposing the plant.

Jackson County Board chairman Jay Denton, told the group the lack of land-use planning or zoning put the community at the mercy of the Fortners.

Addressing Fortner, Denton said, “these people are speaking from their hearts. They have bonded to ask you not to put an asphalt plant in their community. They’re asking you to reconsider, Mr. Fortner.”

Denton told the crowd that county attorney Raymond Large was researching the issue and would advise the board of its options at the May 10 regular meeting.

Fortner said that he and his engineer planned to attend the May 10 meeting.

 

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