IPP—
IVIarch 4,1986
THE LANCE
Page 3
TOXIC WASTE DUMP:
To Be Or Not To Be?
by David Snyder
Throughout Laurinburg, most
houses stand adorned with yellow
ribbons protesting the plans of GSX
to locate a hazardous waste dump
near here. GSX officials two years
3Q0 promised to locate the site here
only with community approval.
Despite this massive protest, GSX is
moving ahead with its plans to locate
here.
Jim Milligan brought this conflict
into the open on February 12th at
Scotland County Courthouse. Dr.
Nelson Mossholder, Director of
Technical Services for GSX, told 500-
600 area citizens that the promise
was made informally "in good in
tent," but "just didn't turn out like
we thought." Milligan emotionally
disrupted this, claiming the promises
"weren’t made in jest and they
weren't made lightly."
GSX Chemical Services, a sub
sidiary of a Canadian company,
GenStar, came to Laurinburg in early
1984 after being tied up with three
years of court battles in Charlotte.
Larry Johnson, an official of GSX,
which was then known as SCA
Chemical Services, made the pro
mise to the Chamber of Commerce
members at a public meeting re
questing approval to locate the site in
this county. According to Dan Jones,
GSX Community Relations Director,
company officials never heard disap
proval from community leaders.
"(Johnson) was talking with your
sincere leaders who told us one thing
and led us down this path," Jones
told the gathering at the courthouse.
GSX proceeded and purchased the
option to buy the property for the
site, located near the Laurinburg-
Maxton Airport.
The next step for GSX is to receive
a permit from the Solid and Hazar
dous Waste Management Branch of
the North Carolina Department of
Human Resources. Bill Meyer is
chairperson of this agency which
determines whether GSX is a reliable
company and has chosen an accep
table location.
Dr. Jim Smithwick, President of
SCAT (Serious Concerns About Tox
ics), opposes granting a permit to
GSX for this dump. They have hired
various consultants to counter GSX's
claims that they are safe. Dr. K.C.
Miller, a Chapel Hill hydrologist; Dr.
Dan Textoris, a geologist; Dr. Jim
Yoho, an attorney; Jeff Riley, an in
dustrial chemist; and a host of others,
have all joined the fight against GSX.
Their claims include that the water
table at the site is too high for a toxic
waste dump, that the area is too pro
ductive agriculturally, that industries
which need clean, fresh water will be
unable to operate down-river from
the dump, and that the dump will
employ only 35 people while
discouraging industries which will
employ hundreds more. Also, they
claim that GSX does not have suffi
cient liability insurance to cover the
liability costs of a disaster.
Bill Meyer plans at least two addi
tional hearings in Scotland County
before a decision is made on the per
mit. The first one will be held
sometime in March.
OPINION
by David Snyder
'We call on you again to form your
group and work with us as we move
forward on this. If not, GSX is going
to be founded here without your
cooperation,: said Dan Miller, Com
munity Relations Director for GSX (a
chemical service company which
hopes to locate a toxic waste dump
in Scotland County). Scotland Coun
ty citizens have protested vigorously
en masse against GSX, yet GSX of
ficials are going against their earlier
promise and founding here even
without community approval. They
claim that no leaders in the beginning
stages of the plan expressed disap
proval.
Why not? The Laurinburg Ex
change in a February 14th editorial
stressed that GSX should not locate
here because of community disap
proval, and that it didn't matter
whether the breach of trust (going
back on the promise) was the fault of
GSX officials' naivete concerning
Scotland County's potential opposi
tion of community leaders' lack of
communication.
But it does matter. When Dan
Jones stated that your sincere
leaders...led us down this path,"
citizens from the courthouse au
dience at the February 11th meeting
shouted from the audience, "They
weren't our leaders," and "They kept
us in the dark!" Who are 'they'? VVhy
this constant reference to 'our
leaders' without identifying who they
are?
How can Scotland County citizens
hold their leaders responsible if tey
are not identified? Community
newspapers need to PRINT THE
NAMES of those leaders who may
be responsible for bringing GoX to
Laurinburg.
I
§
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Happy Birthday
Deb Kelly!
Love
the Misters
Cr the Sisters
§
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Campus
Shots
9
Photo by Nhi Phan
Is St. Andrews REALLY throwing in
a new car when you pay your 86-87
tuition?
Photo by Daily DIa*
Danny Kidd poses under his "Rocky
Horror" masterpiece in Suite 1-Meck.