CASH Ibegam as a spark, developed into
By RANDALL PATTERSON
Staff Writer
Fifteen years ago, Carolina Power
& Light Co. announced its plans to
build a nuclear power plant. Oppo
sition to the Shearon Harris Nulcear
Plant began as a spark.
"In the early days, 1 would guess
about 10 were actively involved," said
Jane Sharp, who, with the North
Carolina Conservation Council, was
among the founders of the struggle
against the plant.
The Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant
is 15 miles southwest of Raleigh near
New Hill. CP&L has invested $3.6
billion in the plant and intends for
the plant to be in full operation by
late this year.
In mid-April of this year, the spark
finally became a fire as opponents
to the plant founded the Coalition
for Alternatives to Shearon Harris
and began an intense grass roots
campaign calling for conversion of
the plant to a coal-burning facility.
CASH is now represented in
Orange, Durham, Wake, Chatham,
Lee and Harnett counties.
One CASH member said that
people became involved in CASH for
economic as well as environmental
reasons.
"We're strictly non-partisan," said
Wells Eddleman, a CASH founder
and perhaps the most ardent foe of
Shearon Harris. "Radiation and high
electric bills are just as bad for
Democrats or Independents as they
are for Republicans, or even the
White Patriot Party.
"Seven weeks ago there were 75
of us. "Now we have 20,000, includ
ing people who have signed the
petitions."
The opposition has crossed
borders normally foreign to political
activists.
The United Methodist Church
voted June 5, the last day of its
convention, to oppose the opening
of the nuclear plant. And at the
Chapel Hill Town Council meeting
June 9, G. Boyles announced the
formation of Disabled Persons
opposed to Shearon Harris.
CASH members said the nuclear
accident at Chernobyl is largely
responsible for the leap in interest.
"People are scared and saying we
got to do something about this,"
Eddleman said.
Another CASH founder said the
nearness of completion of the Shea
ron Harris facility has also spurred
people to act.
"Now that they see CP&L is about
to do it, they're pulling together," said
Lightning Brown. "That's what is
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important about CASH. It really has
pulled them together."
But so far CP&L has disagreed
with CASH on what's good for the
public.
"The least expensive thing to do
is to complete the plant, put it on
line and use it for the purposes for
which it was designed," said Sher
wood Smith, president and chairman
of CP&L.
"In order to have an adequate
supply of electricity, we're going to
have to have not only the Shearon
Harris nuclear power plant in oper
ation but all of the 1 1 nuclear power
plants now serving the Carolinas," he
said.
Smith said converting the plant
would require another $1.5 billion
and six more years of construction.
But CASH maintains there are less
expensive and safer alternatives, such
as buying energy from other utilities
or conversion to a coal-fired power
plant.
Eddleman said the plant was "an
economic disaster."
"This plant is comparable to
burning oil at $100 a barrel," he said.
"WeVe been trying to get across
to the stockholders for years that
putting the thing into rates is going
to hurt the company," said Eddle
man, explaining his belief that
consumers will conserve electricitty
or find other technologies to meet
power needs in response to the rate
hikes.
CP&L intends for the plant to be
paid for by its customers through a
25 percent rate incease to occur over
the next two years. Smith said any
additional costs on the plant would
also have to be incurred by the
consumers.
Smith said Shearon Harris could
not be accurately compared to the
Chernobyl plant.
"1 think its natural that Chernobyl
has raised questions and anxities
among people with respect to nuclear
power plants, he said. "It's our
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industry's responsibility to provide
the public with sufficient information
so that they'll know that what
happened at Chernobyl absolutely
should not happen here."
Both groups have been providing
the public with information to
support their separate claims. Con
fusion has been the result.
"Some of the information is con
flicting," Chatham County Commi
sioner Carl Thompson said. "That's
a tremendous problem where we're
concerned. We want to make a
decision based on fact."
Chatham, Wake, Harnett and Lee
counties all lie partially within the
10-mile radius around the reactor.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion requires CP&L to have an
evacuation plan for towns in the
radius before it is given a license to
operate.
On May 27, CASH scored its
biggest victory when the Chatham
County commissioners expressed
dissatisfaction with the evacuation
plan and voted unanimously to
withdraw from it. "I really think
that's what the people of Chatham
County wanted," said Earl Thomp
son, commission chairman. "A local
official is supposed to go with the
majority.
Smith said that if Chatham County
does not participate in the plan, the
opening of Shearon Harris could be
delayed six months at a cost of $2
million a day.
Thompson said the commission
would reconsider the plan after
"critical examination of unresolved
issues."
Beyond Chatham County, the
influence of CASH on local govern
ing bodies has been felt, among
others, by the city councils of
Durham, Carrboro, Hillsborough
and Chapel Hill, and June 17 by the
Orange County Commission. Each
has responded to public pressure by
passing resolutions calling for the
conversion of Shearon Harris to a
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non-nuclear fuel plant.
"We don't believe in politics
anyone is immune from the public,"
Eddleman said. "The basic idea is
this: we get the facts out to the public,
and when they see there are better
and cheaper and safer alternatives,
they just simply will not stand for
Shearon Harris. Then we, the
aroused public, contact our public
officials and say do something about
On the Chapel Hill Town Council,
Nancy Preston said the efforts of
CASH definitely influenced the
council's decision.
William Cummings, a leader of the
Orange County CASH, said com
munications with public officials was
not difficult. "We're a local-based,
grass roots organization, so there's
not a huge gap between us and them,"
he said.
The strength of CASH varies from
county to county. In Wake County,
the home of Shearon Harris, CASH
has yet to present the commission
with any evidence of its support there.
"No, people haven't been contacting
me that much," said Wake County
Commissioner Vernon Malone.
"Most of the calls IVe had have been
fom people saying they want the
plant to start up."
Commissioner John Massey said:
"IVe received a lot of letters on it
(starting up the plant). It's been about
eight for and two against, out of every
ten."
Lisa Slade, of the Orange County
CASH, said that because Wake
County was so important and
because there are so many CP&L
employees in the area, CASH in
Wake County was gathering strength
before they approached the local
government.
Wake County has the most area
in the evacuation zone, and the
attitudes of its residents torwards
Shearon Harris will be a key factor
in the decision of the Nuclear Reg
ulatory Commission to license the
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plant.
Kim Lillig, a leader of Wake
County CASH, said about 300
people were closely involved in the
opposition. Orange County CASH
has about 600 who work actively,
Brown said.
Lillig said of meeting with the
Wake County Commission: "It's not
just a matter of walking in and
banging on a desk. Well be meeting
with them later this month in a
formal setting."
CASH is also weak in Lee and
Harnett counties, the other two of
the four counties in the evacuation
zone, said Dan Coleman, a member
of Orange County C AS H .
"There is organization basically
just beginning there," Coleman said.
"It's probably going to be several
weeks before you see the level of
interest there that you see in Cha
tham and Orange counties, but we
feel that as soon as people see the
information, they will become
interested."
The State Bueau of Investigation
has been watching CASH in case the
See CASH page 28
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