NC citizens group, SELC challenge permit for polluter issued without public notice

A common tactic of suppressing community concerns about biomass operations and environmental quality is the issuing of permits for operations without public notice or with vague and misleading terms. In May 2017, concerned citizens in Richmond County, NC only learned of an air quality permit granted to a proposed Enviva pellet plant after it was finalized by the Department of Environmental Quality in NC. The community reached out to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) for help challenging the permit, highlighting inconsistencies in the specifics of the permit that would have allowed for more air pollution in their town of Hamlet, North Carolina.

The article quotes SELC attorney Mary Blake about why the permit issue was so important to challenge:
"It's deeply troubling that a permit would be issued for a new major pollution source without the community impacted having an opportunity to voice their concerns and provide input...The law requires that people have the right to public notice and comment and a chance to speak at a public hearing before permits are issued for new sources of major pollution in their communities."

The action taken here was informed by local citizens and mediated through a series of appeals by the SELC to the Office of Administrative Hearings to request the issue of a safer, more responsible permit.

Kim McCall of local group Concerned Citizens of Richmond County said, "We want a voice in the decision to permit this major source of air pollution in our community...We all deserve healthy air in our communities and the opportunity to be properly notified and have input into decisions to permit major sources of pollution that affect us."