Lawyers for Titan America submitted a notice of appeal on June 1, 2010 to Wake County Superior Court. So far, the state has not joined Titan on the appeal, which seeks to challenge the May 3^rd ruling by Judge Stephens ordering Titan to comply with the state environmental policy act (SEPA) before any permits are issued for their cement plant in Castle Hayne, NC. No public statements have been issued from Titan America or representatives from their company (yet), but it’ll be interesting to read the reasons they give for the appeal, especially since Titan’s PR rep, Kate McClain, stated earlier that no appeals would be sought by Titan.

So, it looks like the legal battle isn’t over and Titan is still committed to pushing their massive industrial, heavy-polluting cement plant and mine down our throats, even if it means avoiding a critical environmental review that is a North Carolina law. Good thing our community has the best environmental lawyers already working so hard to make sure Titan follows all state and federal regulations before any permits are issued. And if you’re still on the fence about why we can’t let big corporations make their own rules and regulations; skirt around stricter emissions requirements; and fail to do comprehensive environmental studies…just turn on the TV and watch a few minutes of the BP oil disaster playing out in the Gulf. Lobbyists and big corporate money can’t call the shots, especially when you have the health and economic future of coastal areas like ours at stake.

Stay tuned for more information, as it comes our way.

And if you haven’t already, please contact your representatives in the NC Senate and House as well as Governor Perdue and your representatives at the Federal level to ask that they support our community’s efforts to make Titan comply with SEPA.

As always, thank you.

Friends of the Lower Cape Fear/ stoptitan.org.

Links and info to check out:

• June 3, 2010 article in Lumina News

• PDF of Titan’s notice of appeal

A big thank you to all those who supported this year’s Reach the Beach fundraiser. It was a great day full of friends, families and fundraising that brought in over $10,000 dollars. Every tax-deductible cent will go directly towards the fight to Stop Titan Cement. We’ll be posting some photos of the event below. If you have some of your own, please send them and we’ll post them as well!