Latest News
- Lew Wetherspoon Running for Re-Election in 2024Lew Weatherspoon has recently declared his intention to run again for Harnett County Commissioner in 2024. We are committed to ensuring he does not secure a seat … Read more
- Highland Paving Co. wins $61.5 Million ContractThe news below was published in The Daily Record on October 28th, 2022. We suspected this was the case all along and the reason why … Read more
- CleanAire NC PartnershipWe have partnered with CleanAire NC Environment Justice who have graciously sponsored a number of PurpleAir pollution monitors that have been installed in the Lillington, … Read more
- Proposed DR Horton DevelopmentDR Horton was granted Annexation and High Density RS10 Zoning request with the Town of Lillington on February 15th. Preliminary site plan details 103 lots … Read more
We are a NONPARTISAN group of residents of Harnett County, NC fighting the US401 N. Highland Paving Asphalt Plant in
We will fight to protect the health of the Cape Fear River, our families, community, and our property values.
Lillington, NC.
Our Fight Against the Lillington Highland Paving Plant
We are a group of residents of Harnett County, NC. opposing the US401N Highland Paving Plant. We didn’t have the public hearing opportunity that the residents of Angier, NC had in their fight against Highland Paving. The land Highland Paving has purchased had been rezoned Industrial in 1988 – 32 years ago before any hospitals, county buildings, or residences were built. This land is also very environmentally sensitive which includes wetlands and borders Neill’s Creek which feeds into the Cape Fear river less than a mile away.
We have recently found out, thanks to the article published by The Daily Record, that we were lied to by Commissioner Lewis Weatherspoon during the Meet the Commissioners meeting on October 7th. He point blank told our group that he and the other commissioners didn’t know about Highland Paving’s intentions until they had received the site plan on June 2nd. We now have proof that Weatherspoon and county officials knew since May, if not sooner.
There was absolutely no consideration given for the health of the residents, hospital patients, clinics, and nearby nursing home. We are also EXTREMELY concerned over the plant’s proximity to Neill’s Creek, Cape Fear River, and protected wetlands.
The HW 401 N. Highland Paving Asphalt Plant is being built a short 1.2 miles from the other asphalt plant on 210, Johnson’s Brothers plant. The Environmental Impact of both plants emitting pollutants were NOT considered in the study done by the NC Department of Air Quality to approve Highland Paving’s asphalt plant.
The current proposed asphalt plant is small, but NOTHING prevents them from expanding! Their Air Quality Permit expires in 2029 and all they have to do is notify DEQ. LEW WEATHERSPOON HELPED THIS HAPPEN!
Commissioner Weatherspoon and other county officials proactively colluded to find this property for the asphalt plant while Highland Paving hid their name behind other company names to not raise any red flags.
Follow the Money!
Why do you think they need that plant there so badly? HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS! There are a HUGE number of housing developments in our area going up. If you look at who has donated to Lew Weatherspoon’s campaign you will notice a LARGE number of developers have donated to him. These developers NEED asphalt for roads being built in the developments. The asphalt needs to arrive at a certain temperature. If the asphalt has to travel by truck longer distances, the asphalt will cool down in the process.
Our Goals
- To try to stop the Highland Paving Asphalt Plant from moving forward and operating at this location.
- If the above is not achieved, we want to prevent the Highland Paving Asphalt Plant from expanding (capacity limits, manufacturing limits, production levels, operation hours/days/times, etc.) of their currently submitted plan of operation at this location.
- To try to change the zoning on the 130 adjoining acres of land to something other than Industrial.
- To try to change the language/law within the Harnett County Ordinances, to create more restrictions on all industrial entities within our county, that omit or produce hazardous substances expelled into the ground, air and water, due to their manufacturing processes.
UPDATE: Under advice of our lawyer, we decided to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice, as of December 13th. If we let the Judge dismiss the case it would be with prejudice, meaning we would not be able to re-open the case. We did not lose our case, we are simply taking a step back and gathering evidence that could help us win our case. We have one year to re-open according to NC rules of civil procedure. Our attorney has not given up. He will continue to work our case and is seeking an expert to help. We are not giving up! We plan to use our attorney to help us change the zoning of some of these properties and re-write the zoning ordinances in our county so, this won’t happen again. It takes time and patience to make these changes. Thank you to everyone that has donated and supported us in this fight!
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Harnett County Residents Against Asphalt & Concrete Plant
We are a grassroots NONPARTISAN group of residents of Harnett County, NC fighting the US401 N. Asphal
It’s been 2 years since our fight began!
Harnett County Rezoning Public Hearing Feb. 15th, 2021
www.youtube.com
Susan Vuncannon speaks durring the public hearing and pleads with the commissioners to not allow the rezoning. Sign her petition!! chng.it/Yynyp5JdX…
Lillington is included in the water systems containing higher content of PFAS than the recommended EPA max levels.
ncnewsline.com
Nearly a dozen public water systems in North Carolina have detected PFAS levels above the EPA’s proposed maximum contaminant levels
Your vote matters!!!Reporting from WRAL TV Liz McLaughlin: "Last year, the chemical industry spent a record $67 million on lobbying, including more than $2.5 million from Dupont and Chemours alone, according to data from the Senate Office of Public Records."
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Last week, we were in DC to counter the chemical industry’s push for federal regulators and Congress to exclude a bunch of PFAS from pending regulations. Some of these PFAS are in our blood. Some are still in our tap water. The chemical industry has spent millions on whisper campaigns to scare lawmakers, regulators, and water utilities into thinking these PFAS loopholes are good.
Thank you for signing our open letter to Sen. Tillis. We hand-delivered this letter to his office with over 1,000 signatures!! The chemical industry made billions in profits at our expense, and now they don’t want to be held accountable. They did the same exact thing 20 years ago. Don’t let them get away with it again.
Municipal elections are coming up. Many races will elect local leaders charged with overseeing public water utilities. Ask every candidate if they will publicly support a PFAS definition of "one fully fluorinated carbon atom" and no PFAS exemptions to CERCLA. If they tell you they don’t support these two positions, they are siding with the chemical industry’s fear-mongering tactics and putting your health at further risk.
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Last week, we were in DC to counter the chemical industry’s push for federal regulators and Congress to exclude a bunch of PFAS from pending regulations. Some of these PFAS are in our blood. Some are still in our tap water. The chemical industry has spent millions on whisper campaigns to scare lawmakers, regulators, and water utilities into thinking these PFAS loopholes are good.
Thank you for signing our open letter to Sen. Tillis. We hand-delivered this letter to his office with over 1,000 signatures!! The chemical industry made billions in profits at our expense, and now they don’t want to be held accountable. They did the same exact thing 20 years ago. Don’t let them get away with it again.
Municipal elections are coming up. Many races will elect local leaders charged with overseeing public water utilities. Ask every candidate if they will publicly support a PFAS definition of "one fully fluorinated carbon atom" and no PFAS exemptions to CERCLA. If they tell you they don’t support these two positions, they are siding with the chemical industry’s fear-mongering tactics and putting your health at further risk.
Lew Weatherspoon has recently declared his intention to run again for Harnett County Commissioner in 2024. We are committed to ensuring he does not secure a seat on the Harnett County Board of Commissioners for another term. #LewKnew
Weatherspoon to seek second term
www.mydailyrecord.com
Harnett County Commissioner Lew Weatherspoon, a former mayor of Angier, recently announced that he plans to file for re-election to the District 4 seat on the Harnett County Board ofLast Updated: 08-Mar-2022
