Call on Asheville City Council to Fund Transit Route Improvements for Historically Disenfranchised Communities!

Action Expired

Asheville city staff recently announced their recommendations for what City Council should fund in the upcoming city budget.

While the Asheville Regional Transit Coalition is excited that they’re recommending more frequent and extensive service throughout the city – bundled together as the “green” and “purple” route improvements – they have not recommended funding for a bundle of “yellow” route improvements that would serve the historically disenfranchised communities of Bartlett Arms, Livingston and South French Broad.

And while the exact number is unclear, we know it wouldn’t cost much more to make sure these yellow routes get funding in the budget.

Together, we can make sure these historically disenfranchised communities aren’t left behind as the city funds improvements for public transit. Take the action to call on City Council to include funding for the yellow route improvements in this year’s budget!

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MountainTrue’s Statement on DEQ’s Announcement to Order Full Excavation of Duke Energy’s Coal Ash Pits in North Carolina

Media Contact:

David Caldwell

Broad Riverkeeper, MountainTrue
E: david@mountaintrue.org P: 704-300-5069

April 3 2019

Cliffside, N.C. – On April 1, North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that they will require full excavation of all coal ash impoundments in NC. As a result, a total of nine coal ash pits at six coal-burning plants – Allen, Belews, Cliffside/Rogers, Marshall, Mayo and Roxboro – must be fully excavated and moved to lined landfills. Below are statements from MountainTrue’s Broad Riverkeeper, David Caldwell, and MountainTrue’s Co-Director, Julie Mayfield.

“This is a huge victory for clean water and the health of communities living near coal-burning power plants in North Carolina. DEQ has proven their mettle, showing the people of our state that they intend to do their job of protecting our water and environment. They have shown big business and industry that polluting our water is unacceptable, and that polluters will be held accountable. This has been a long battle for frontline communities, which have shouldered the burden and the risks associated with coal-fired power for decades.

I personally became involved in the fight to clean up coal ash in 2014, and started the Broad River Alliance in 2015. In 2016 I attended the first of DEQ’s public input meetings regarding Cliffside, joining over one hundred concerned local citizens who stood up and spoke out for clean water. We asked DEQ and Duke Energy to do the right thing and dig up the ash that has been sitting in our groundwater and leaking dangerous contaminants into the Broad River.

The Cliffside community has been showing up and speaking out about the dangers of coal ash for the past three years. Finally, a victory has come for the people and for the environment that sustains us all. It is truly possible that I will one day be able to say to the young fishermen of the Broad River, ‘Yes, the fishing here is fantastic! And these fish are good to eat! We have clean water and we intend on keeping it!’”

–David Caldwell, Broad Riverkeeper for MountainTrue

“MountainTrue is so grateful to DEQ for listening to affected communities and heeding the science showing that full excavation is the only safe option for coal ash closure in our state.

MountainTrue and the Sierra Club launched the focus on coal ash in North Carolina in 2012 as part of the Asheville Beyond Coal campaign. Through that campaign, we secured the forthcoming retirement of Asheville’s coal plant on Lake Julian and the full excavation of those coal ash ponds. This put Asheville’s air and water on a pathway to a cleaner future, but the future for the people and environment in Cliffside and other frontline communities across the state were until now uncertain. This historic decision by DEQ will change all of that.

MountainTrue is grateful for the affected community members who spoke out at hearing after hearing to help secure this victory, as well as for grassroots organizers all across the state and partner organizations like the Southern Environmental Law Center who made this outcome possible. We will continue to monitor this process closely, and we call on North Carolina’s legislators to help ensure that DEQ’s decision is implemented efficiently and justly for the people of North Carolina.”

–Julie Mayfield, Co-Director for MountainTrue

For more information: https://deq.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2019/04/01/deq-orders-duke-energy-excavate-coal-ash-six-remaining-sites

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Thank Asheville City Council for Making Public Transit Their #1 Priority!

Action Expired

At their retreat on March 8, City Council made improving Asheville’s public transit system their number one priority. This is a big deal: it means City Council has publicly committed to putting a better public transit system – one that runs on time, all day and more often for riders who depend on it – at the very top of their list.

Join the Asheville Regional Transit Coalition in thanking City Council by completing the action below! Let’s remind City Council that the city is watching and that #transitcantwait.

Protect the Clean Water Act from Industry Polluters!

Action Expired

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a proposal that would gut the Clean Water Act, a bedrock environmental law that has protected America’s waters for generations. If adopted, this proposal would open the way for uncontrolled pollution into 49,000 miles of streams that flow into North Carolina’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters. What’s more, the proposal threatens to remove protections from drinking water sources for 200 million Americans – including the drinking water for three of every five North Carolinians.

Time is running out before the comment period closes on this proposal on April 15. Take the action below to show that Western North Carolina will not stand for our waterways and communities being put at risk.