Editorials - 10/19/00

An overall good week for the environment

Though environmental groups longed for tougher action by the EMC, the 66 percent reduction of ozone-forming pollutants over the next six years is, at least, a step in the right direction with regard to air quality.

Critics of the plan say it falls short of what is needed to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by the state's power plants and goes against the will of the public, which was expressed in several public hearings this past summer.

The EMC's second ruling last week is clearly a victory for the mountains. Almost unanimously, commission members upheld an earlier ruling by administrative law Judge Beecher Gray with regard to an erosion complaint filed by a local family.

What that means, according to Asheville attorney Billy Clarke, is that the Water Quality Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will now be required to enforce actual standards with regard to sedimentation and turbidity levels in streams rather than allowing the developer, Highlands Cove, to avoid citations by saying they were following Best Management Practices.

Earle and David Young, who own property between Cashiers and Highlands in Jackson County, successfully sued Highlands Cove over erosion and resulting sedimentation of a stream and lake on their property. The developer based its defense on the fact that it was following BMPs and had not been cited by the state for being out of compliance.

The Youngs filed a complaint that BMPs were not adequate to protect their property from large-scale erosion from golf course construction upstream. While the administrative judge ruled in their favor last spring, the EMC, which oversees DENR's policies and enforcement, had the option of affirming that decision or setting it aside and allowing state inspectors to continue to permit developers to exceed recommended turbidity levels as long as BMPs were followed.

"This sends a message to developers that they can't just come in and tear up the side of a mountain without taking measures to control erosion," said Bob Ray, an EMC member from Cullowhee.

And that brings us to Sugar Loaf. While it won't become part of the public domain, as many had hoped, the tract has been purchased by a development company with a proven record of environmentally-sound practices. They have pledged that 1,500 will remain untouched. Only 350 homes are planned for 4,400-acre tract, and each one must adhere to size and height restrictions, among other. Removal of trees will only be allowed according to a master site plan developed by a naturalist. Little road construction is planned, and paving will be kept to a minimum.

While there will be a golf course, both the commitment of the developers and the recent EMC ruling should work in concert to keep any disturbed dirt where it belongs.

All in all, it was a better than average week for the environment.

They're there for us in our times of trouble. We're lucky to have them.

Editorial policy

Back to Archive: 10/19/00.