Brunswick Environmental Action Team
BEAT was happy to be invited to the 2022 Oak Island Earth Day Festival, April 2022. Thank you Oak Island for allowing us to share ideas about how we can continue to work together to thrive while peacefully making use of the life sustaining energy that our Earth provides for us every day - To optimize our ongoing survival and a deeply shared happy and healthy existence.
BEAT received an email from: Melissa Edmonds <medmonds@selcnc.org> of the Southern Environmental Law Center on September 9, 2022 at 12:32:50 PM EDT. The subject of the email was Offshore Drilling Comment Opportunity. BEAT leadership would like to share this message with you here. The text that follows is the body of the message in its entirety.
Hi all,
I hope this note finds you well! You are receiving this email because you have previously been involved in SELC’s campaign to fight offshore drilling, by signing onto our comment letters to oppose drilling in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. I am writing now to alert you of another important comment opportunity on the issue of offshore drilling in these regions.
SELC is currently preparing comments on the Biden administration’s Proposed Five Year Plan for offshore drilling, which removes all Atlantic Planning Areas from consideration, yet still proposes to hold lease sales in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico. Comments are due Oct. 6. As usual, our comments will be focused on the Gulf and the Southeast; we plan to thank BOEM for listening to the voices of the East Coast by removing the Atlantic, and further urge no new leasing in the Gulf of Mexico because of the continued harm from offshore drilling on Gulf communities and natural resources and on climate change.
SELC supports responsible offshore wind development as a critically important piece in the necessary clean energy transition to address the climate crisis, but we do not support provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act that tie future offshore wind leasing to continued oil and gas leasing. We are planning to make this distinction in our comments, but please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns with this approach.
If you are potentially interested in signing on and have input as we draft, please let me know ASAP, as we are working on drafting the comments now. We will circulate a draft on Sept. 23, accept feedback through Sept. 28, and take final sign-ons through Oct. 5.
Thank you all for being valued partners in this important issue, we look forward to your continued support throughout this fight!
Melissa L. Edmonds (Whaling) (she/her)
Science & Policy Analyst
Southern Environmental Law Center
601 West Rosemary Street, Suite 220
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Office (919) 391-4099
Mobile (919) 623-5003
Dear visitor, below is a message BEAT received from "Emily Donovan via ActionNetwork.org" <info@email.actionnetwork.org>
The subject of her message regards
URGENT ACTION REQUIRED:
Say: "No More Chemours!"
BEAT received this message on: September 10, 2022 at 12:36:12 PM EDT
Her message is shared here in its entiretity.
Friends,
It's time to mobilize like never before. Chemours just announced they want to EXPAND their toxic PFAS production in NC. We don’t feel they’ve earned this right–especially when they’ve failed to deliver on the most basic promises to our community.
We believe the majority of control measures taken, so far, are because Chemours was legally forced to comply via a 2019 consent order established by our friends at Cape Fear River Watch. However, it’s important to remember, consent orders are only as good as they are being enforced. Sadly, strong enforcement of the Chemours consent order has taken constant pressure from dedicated folks like you, who are determined to hold both DEQ and Chemours’ feet to the fire.
Here’s a quick summary of how Chemours has “helped” us:
-
They've been dragging their feet on establishing toxicity studies required by the 2019 consent order.
-
They have made private well owners wait 6 months with no replacement water.
-
They refuse to meet the needs of commissioners in Cumberland County and are now being sued.
Chemours has not earned the right to expand in NC and we are counting on you to help them get the message. Chemours is hosting a public information session at Leland Cultural Arts Center, Wednesday, September 21st from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Click here to RSVP We’ll send you talking points in the next two weeks to help you feel prepared.
In the meantime, please share our event link on social media and with your fellow neighbors. Media will be present at this meeting, so it’s vital that we show a united front against Chemours. We cannot allow them to add another drop of their poison to our water.
With gratitude,
Emily Donovan, cofounder
Clean Cape Fear
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE BEAT LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR the Brunswick County NAACP’s proposed Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Multi-Use Greenway/Blueway Trail, Brunswick County, North Carolina
FYI: An Informative PDF about PFAS as it Relates to Brunswick County in 2020 - by Eugene Rozenbaoum of LG Chem
Rally and Speaking to Brunswick County Commissioners to Express Opposition to Offshore Drilling on March 19, 2018
On Monday, March 19th, members of BEAT and the general public rallied before the monthly meeting of the Brunswick County Commissioners to express their continuing opposition to seismic blasting and offshore drilling. Energy was high as this was the meeting at which the commissioners had designated to select their position on seismic blasting and offshore drilling. At the meeting, they decided neither to support nor oppose but rather to take no position. One of the commissioners (Randy Thompson) affirmed his opposition to drilling and made a motion to oppose. Two of the commissioners (Marty Cooke and Pat Sykes) affirmed their support for drilling. Cooke made a motion to remove the issue from the agenda, which meant that the Commission would stay with the "no position" position it took in January.
Chairperson Frank Williams said he supported Cooke's motion, but he would vote against Thompson's motion if the issue actually came to a vote. Given the intractability of Cooke and Sykes, that essentially ended any hope that Brunswick County would join with East Coast communities, governors, senators, representatives, businesses, fishing groups, tourist boards, and public opinion in opposing offshore drilling.
Even though the issue had been dispensed with, individuals made comments to the commissioners in the designated section of the meeting. The 6 pro-drilling speakers (half from outside Brunswick County) offered some very interesting analysis (environmentalists are the same people who oppose school prayer, environmentalists have been convinced by Russian social media to oppose offshore drilling, there is no documented harm from seismic blasting, a majority of the public supports offshore drilling, our taxes and gas prices will go down if we offshore drill). These are among the arguments actually made. They range from the totally debunked and untrue to the bizarre.
Those opposed to offshore drilling made arguments that are consistent with scientific research and consistent with the type of evidence commissioners have sought in the past. For example, Commissioner Sykes once proclaimed we ought to give more voice to our individual communities and citizens. So the Commission was presented with resolutions opposing offshore drilling from all 13 (of the 19 total) BC communities that have considered the issue. Impressive presentations were made on the continuing dangers of drilling and drill platforms, the importance of listening to coastal constituents, and the importance of what we leave for future generations. We are proud of these arguments.
BEAT and all of the groups and individuals who recognize that potential harm from seismic blasting and offshore drilling overwhelms the paltry possible benefits have expressed determination not to let this issue disappear. As coastal communities all up and down the Eastern seaboard have proclaimed, the risk to our communities is too great to look the other way.