Published: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 5:54 p.m., Last Modified: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
The N.C. Ports Authority’s board of directors will take a vote on
one of two wood pellets facilities on Wednesday, even as the energy
source comes under more heat.
Enviva’s facility at the
Port of Wilmington will come to a vote on Wednesday, but the board will
wait to vote on the International Wood Fuels facility in Morehead City
until Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata can have more discussions
with Gov. Pat McCrory.
If
the Wilmington project is approved Wednesday, its next step will be the
Council of State because it involves the leasing of state land. The
authority will not need the council’s sign-off on the Morehead City
project, which involves state-funded construction on state property.
Enviva,
which has also built a pellet terminal in Chesapeake, Va., would build
two concrete storage domes, rail and truck unloading stations and a ship
loader/dock conveyor system at the Port of Wilmington.
In
the meantime, representatives of the Southern Environmental Law Center
have been critical of the pellet projects, in part because of possible
shifts in attitude across the Atlantic.
“That
entire policy is under active consideration in Europe now,” said Derb
Carter, director of the N.C. office of the Southern Environmental Law
Center. “They’re examining the assumption that this is an energy path
that they want to go down. There’s active meetings going on in the UK
and in the EU, and if this market goes away, the state will have been
involved in making major investments at the port that have no purpose.”
Danny McComas, the chairman
of the Ports Authority’s board, said he can’t predict the future but is
reassured by the Europeans’ investment in pellet plants.
In
addition to the concerns about the pellets’ viability as an energy
source, the Law Center raised questions about the Ports Authority’s
transparency.
“In our
view, if they’re going to be making decisions about a particular project
and they know that in advance, then the public has a right to know what
those topics will be and what will be considered at that meeting,”
Carter said.
Public
notices of the ports board’s teleconferences on Tuesday and Wednesday
was provided by the Ports Authority, but they did not explicitly mention
that the pellet projects would be discussed during those meetings.
Carter said he thinks the projects should have been the topic of a public hearing.
McComas
said he’d be willing to talk with representatives of the organization
about their environmental concerns after the agreements become
finalized.
“After it becomes public that it’s been finalized, we can certainly talk to them,” he said.
Adam Wagner: 343-2096
On Twitter: @adamwagner1990
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