Issue Fatigue? Too wasted for waste development?
Last week, as WHQR reports (Should NHCo Privatize the Landfill?), New Hanover County residents were surveyed for their feelings about the proposed privatization of the county’s trash management services, in part because of financial strains on the county budget.
The feedback from those polled — and about this important story in general — has been tepid, indifferent. This is an important issue for the area, and yet listeners and readers haven’t seemed to grab onto it. A local news reporter and reader of the Grove Project asks, Why aren’t more people taking part in this discussion?
There are a lot of outstanding issues here. What is the future of the incinerator? What is the best solution (environmentally, cost, etc) for the area? I don’t know that I am informed enough to give a good answer. I would like to see all haulers be required to provide recycling services to all NHC residents.
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I agree about the informed part, Adam. I suspect that this issue hasn’t gotten more traction because people — like me — are afraid to reveal their ignorance about the parties involved here, the impacts, the trade-offs.
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I rarely feel sufficiently informed on issues such as this because my life feels sufficiently overwhelmed partly by the few issues that I follow and research that directly impact my family. Revealing my ignorance has unfortunately never been my issue, it’s finding (or taking) the time to talk to (or chat with) the people who could properly inform me. I would be happy to assert my opinion if I knew where to go to solidify it. I will try WHQR’s website for information, links, etc. Thanks for calling our attention to this. The Grove Project makes a concerned citizen’s life easier.
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During my reporting of this story, I can tell you that four private companies have turned in their bids, but those bids are not open to the public until commissioners make a decision. So we won’t know until it’s all said and done what the economic factors were.
What we do know is that as long as the county landfill and waste-to-energy facility is under county controll, we the voters have some say, at least ownership. We have county staff who work for us making the budget and pricing. Conversely, private owners are held accountable to corporations and stock holders.
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Oops, hit send too soon.
But the private companies make the arguement that they have the capital and manpower to upgrade WASTEC and implement a county-wide recycling program.
Maybe they can. There are pros and cons to both options.
But there should be some public discussion about whether this is what residents want.
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[...] special public affairs program about an issue we’ve raised here before (to little avail) is being held Thursday night at 6:30 PM on WHQR: New Hanover County [...]