Asphalt plans rocking up fears

Daniel Parshley of the Glynn Environmental Coalition is frustrated with what he sees as the short-sightedness of planning and industrial development in Glynn County.

Parshley is particularly peeved with the prospect of the construction of a second asphalt plant on Whitlock Street in Brunswick, adjacent to Arco. One of his top concerns with the proposed project is the effect the plant will have on children in the neighborhood.

Brunswick-based Sholan Asphalt recently requested an air permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to build a plant on the planned Whitlock Street site.

If the permit is granted, it will come on the heels of the 2003 issuance of an air permit to Douglas Asphalt to build a plant on another lot on the same street.

For Parshley, the Douglas Asphalt plant, currently in the early stages of site preparation, is more than enough.

"It's really frustrating," he said. "I'm tired of them permitting according to how much harm our children can tolerate instead of how safe they can make the environment for the children."

In a letter to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division requesting a public hearing on the matter, Parshley cites research showing air pollutants emitted from asphalt factories can have a profoundly negative impact on children's learning capacities, especially in their younger, developmental years.

"You steal (kindergarten) through (3rd grade) from a child and you can never get back that foundation," Parshley said. "By the time they get to high school, there's no way they can catch up.

Although Parshley hasn't received a definitive answer from the EPD on the date of the public hearing, he said it is tentatively set for Aug. 26. The time and location of the hearing have not yet been determined.

Parshley isn't the only resident worried about how another asphalt plant in the vicinity of schools might impact children.

"Nobody wants an asphalt plant near the school," said school board member Earl Perry. "I was against it (in 2003), but there is not much you can do."

Perry remembers when Douglas Asphalt applied for its permit in 2003. Even then, he said, the prospect of one asphalt plant seemed unsightly, but the situation was really out of the school board's hands.

Although opposed to the idea, Perry said if Sholan's application and building plans meet all state requirements, there won't be much the local school board can do to stop a second plant from being built.

"I don't think we'll be able to stop it, but I'd want the school board to go on record against it," he said. "We'll probably write another letter, but it will probably do about as good as last time."

The school board passed a resolution in opposition to the first asphalt plant two years ago.

Perry's sense of futility in trying to stop the building of another asphalt plant isn't entirely off-base.

Bruce Foisy, project manager for the Environment Protection Division, said as long as the company requesting the permit can demonstrate it will meet the minimum air quality requirements, the division is obligated to grant the permit.

"If we deny permits for any other reason, we open ourselves up to lawsuits from the company," Foisy said.

The EPD appreciates comments from local citizens and groups of interest, but unlike the Glynn Environmental Coalition, Foisy said, it should not be confused with an environmental advocacy group.

"We're about compliance and enforcement," Foisy said. "We administer laws, rules, regulations and permits."

Foisy said the EPD will take into account the vicinity of the planned Douglas Asphalt plant when making the decision to grant the Sholan permit.

"Joint emission issues (will be) a consideration in the issuance of this permit," he said.

Doubling the amount of pollutants in the air is what concerns Brunswick resident Hinton Johnson.

Johnson, who lives approximately one-half mile from the two proposed asphalt plant sites, is worried that the construction of a second plant will negatively impact his neighborhood.

"It's the people that live in the community," Johnson said. "It won't create a health hazard overnight, but in the long run, it's bound to have some results.

"We're looking at what's going to happen to the children."