NEWPORT-The Cocke County Planning Commission issued a statement, or letter, last week on behalf of the planning board that expresses strong opposition to the polluting of the Pigeon River by a North Carolina paper mill upstream from Cocke County.

The letter was addressed to Sergei Chernikov of the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, NPDES Unit, in Raleigh, N.C.

The letter is as follows:

"The Cocke County Planning Commission would like to formally request denial and place this letter in the official record of the Blue Ridge Paper Products NPDES permit # NC0000272 which is allowing the discharge of industrial, storm water, municipal, and landfill leachate wastewaters into waters of North Carolina and Tennessee.  The Cocke County Regional Planning Commission statement is important because we are charged with creating a guideline for the quality of life and development in our communities' future.  This is a formal request for help to prevent further damage to our community.

The Cocke County Regional Planning Commission is adamantly against the renewal of Permit Number: NC0000272 for the Blue Ridge Paper Products to discharge wastewater under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for the Pigeon River.  There should be more stringent requirements for the mill's discharge not less.  The 100,000 tons of toxins discharged into the river by the drafted permit is at the extreme end of the recommendations by the state of North Carolina.  The mill should be held accountable.

The permit as written, in our opinion, is erroneous.  The North Carolina Division of Water Quality has submitted a permit which appears to be one-sided and in favor of the paper mill and the economics of North Carolina.  It reflects no regard to the Clean Water Act of 1972.  A lax permit is a disservice to the people of Cocke County, as well as, the United States.

Cocke County Regional Planning Commission members attended the meeting in Cocke County and the public hearing in Waynesville, North Carolina.  It was a tale of two cities.  Both sides spoke with passion and conviction!  But, after watching ten hours of comments, a couple of things still ring true...Money talks!!  Without exception, every person who spoke in favor of the permit was paid directly or indirectly by Blue Ridge Paper Company.  Almost everyone who spoke against the permit was just an ordinary person genuinely concerned about the deterioration of the river.  Those in favor of the permit spoke of the 1990 modernization of the plant. Twenty-year-old technology is no longer state of the art.

The millions of dollars that Blue Ridge Paper Products funnels into the Canton community, as well as all the surrounding counties, have bought the privilege of doing business in North Carolina with pleas from the residents of Cocke County to clean the river falling on deaf ears for too many decades.  For 101 years, the citizens of Cocke County have borne all of the costs of economic development in Canton and North Carolina without reaping any of the benefits.  For the past thirty-eight years, Blue Ridge Paper Products has operated under a variance.  The populace of North Carolina should be grateful to the citizens of Cocke County for the past 101 years because through continued protests by Cocke County, Blue Ridge Products has been forced to clean the river just enough to remain open and keep their high paying jobs while the people of Cocke County labor for much lower wages and remain at poverty level.

The Cocke County Regional Planning Commission can and does enforce standards and Tennessee Law in our region. The Cocke County Regional Planning Commission adhere to the guiding principles set forth by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the State Planning Office to enforce regulations that do not allow a landowner or developer to pollute waterways, roads, or property of their neighbors.  Developers who are subdividing property on waterways are required to provide a floodplain analysis before approval is granted for said development. 

The Cocke County Regional Planning Commission supports locating a wastewater treatment plant near Blue Ridge Paper Products that has the technology to return clean water to the plant for a fee. We want Blue Ridge Paper Products to implement all three process improvements identified by the Technical Review Workgroup:  bleach filtrate recycle reliability, leak and spill collection and control and process optimization. The pipeline carrying the waste should be exposed rather than buried under the river. Testing should be allowed as the wastewater discharge exits the plant.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is proof of the great sacrifice by the residents of Cocke County to preserve their natural resources.  Cocke County has suffered 101 years from a polluted and impaired river.   Again, the Cocke County Regional Planning Commission requests denial of the renewal of Permit Number: NC0000272 for the Blue Ridge Paper Products."

The letter/statement was signed as follows:

Phil Morgan, Chairman

Mike Johnson, Vice-Chairman

Lee Willis, Secretary

Bettye Carver, Recording Secretary

Jack Clark

Fletcher Ervin, County Attorney

Renee Hurst  

Hilda Lovell

Doug Shoemaker

Gay Webb

cc:  Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee

Paul Davis, Director of Water Pollution Control

U.S. Congressman Phil Roe

 cc:  Senator Lamar Alexander

Senator Bob Corker

Tennessee State Senator Steve Southerland

Tennessee State Representative Eddie Yokely

John Abe Teague, Field Representative for Congressman Phil Roe

Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator, Washington, DC

Peter Sylva, Administrator of the Office of Water

Jim Glattina, Director of Water Protection Division, EPA Region 4

Stan Melburg, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 4

Annie Godfrey, Chief of Water Quality Standards, EPA Region 4

Marshall Hyatt, EPA, Region 4