Denton Residents Object to Plant

SALISBURY POST
By KATHY CHAFFIN

DENTON - For years, Cindy and Grant Smith thought they had a voice in what happened around them.

When Piedmont Chemical Industries of High Point wanted to build a chemical plant near their home in southern Davidson County, the Smiths and other concerned residents fought against the plans and won, twice.

The first time was in 1991, when Piedmont requested that the 184 acres it had purchased in the area 13 years before be rezoned for heavy industrial use. The Davidson County Board of Commissioners, after hearing the concerns of area residents, said no.

Three years later, the company asked for the property on N.C. 109 to be rezoned for heavy industrial-conditional use. Davidson commissioners, responding to the pleas of area residents, again denied the request.

Piedmont Chemical Industries sued the commissioners following both denials, but their decisions were upheld.

The Smiths and other concerned residents, calling themselves the Good Neighbors of South Davidson, breathed a sigh of relief.

Then in April of this year, the Denton Town Council voted to annex 50 acres of Piedmont's property, removing the fate of the proposed chemical plant from the county commissioners who had twice rejected it. On June 1, despite strong opposition, the council voted to zone the land for heavy industrial use, paving the way for the plant to be built.

"We felt like we'd gotten lost in the political system," Grant Smith said. "Two times, the voices of the people in this area were heard. Then to change all that without these same people being represented is wrong."

Denton Mayor Pro Tem Ira Craven said the people were heard.

"We had hearings on it, and they attended and got to say what they wanted to say," he said. "We answered their questions as best as we could."

Councilman Scott Morris said everybody that wanted to had a chance to speak.

"We didn't limit anybody that I know of," he said.

The council's decisions were unanimous, but the fight was far from over.

On July 31, the Good Neighbors of South Davidson filed a lawsuit against Denton, asking that the town's annexation and zoning be reversed. A court date has not yet been scheduled.

Morris said town officials spent over a year deliberating whether to annex the property.

"This is not anything we did overnight," he said.

Town officials checked with the city of High Point, where Piedmont Chemical Industries is based, and found it to be a reputable company, he said.

"We checked with the state, with EPA people and with the people who regulate the chemical industry," Morris said. "We checked with the High Point City Fire Department."

Craven said they even checked with the minister of a church located near the company in High Point.

"They've never had any problems," he said. "And the neighbors up there, they don't have any qualms about it."

But the Good Neighbors, in its lawsuit, says a leak from the plant could jeopardize the health of nearby residents as well as the students at South Davidson Middle/High School, located just two miles from the proposed site.

The group says there have already been problems stemming from the three storage facilities built by the company in 1988, two years before Davidson implemented zoning of county property and zoned the property for rural agricultural use. On Oct. 13, 1989, the Good Neighbors states in its literature, students and staff members at South Davidson could smell the odor from a discharge from one of the facilities and some complained of headaches.

"We don't want to be exposed to hazardous emissions," Grant Smith said, "even on a minute scale. We don't want to be exposed to any kind of hazards."

According to the Silver Valley Fire Department records, Grant Smith said, the following chemicals are being stored in Piedmont's facilities on the site: morpholine, ethylene, dimethlamine, trimethylamine, ammonium chloride, anhydrous, ethylbenzene and methanol. A fire at the storage facility would produce irritating, corrosive and/or toxic gases, he said.

Town officials, in zoning the property, placed certain restrictions on Piedmont. One of those would require the company to pay for additional fire and rescue equipment that would be needed in the event of a fire at the plant.

Cindy Smith said people working in chemical plants tend to have a lot of headaches and respiratory problems. Quoting a study conducted by the Louisiana State University medical school, she said that people living within two miles of factories or industrial plants in that state were found to have a 60 percent higher cancer risk than those living further away.

Craven said the proposed plant poses no danger to nearby residents.

"Just because it says chemical doesn't mean it's going to blow up tomorrow," he said.

The Piedmont plant would be manufacturing fabric softener, Craven said, "which everybody uses every day."

Grant Smith said zoning the property for heavy industrial use would allow the company to manufacture anything it wants to, not just fabric softener.

"The town of Denton can't regulate what they make," he said.

Craven said he's just as concerned as anybody for the safety of the people living in the area: he has four young grandchildren who live nearby.

"I have no question whatsoever but that it's safe," he said.

Morris, who has a daughter at South Davidson and a son who will be there in two years, said he does not believe the chemical plant would pose any kind of health threat.

"I think chemical companies in general are so highly regulated that I don't see any problems," he said. "If I thought it was detrimental to the community, certainly I would not be for it, because of my two kids."

The chemical plant would recoup some of the tax base the town lost when Burlington Industries closed its plant there, leaving 700 to 800 people without jobs, he said.

"When you lose something like that, you lose your tax base," Craven said.

Craven said Piedmont is negotiating to sell 10 acres of the annexed property to a furniture company for a plant that would employ 1,500 people, which is near the population of the town.

Town officials' decision to pave the way for the chemical plant has people concerned about too much value being placed on the tax base, according to Grant Smith.

"Money's not everything," he said. "The quality of life that we have in the Denton area should never be compromised because of the tax base."

Smith said the Good Neighbors are not against bringing more industry and jobs into the area.

"But there's a trade-off," he said. "What are we willing to trade off? Of all the industries we could pick, the chemical industry is probably the worst as far as endangering the environment."

The Smiths don't live within the Denton town limits, but there are members of Good Neighbors who do. About 30 people turned out for the first meeting, but Grant Smith said the membership in the group has grown to about 260.

Craven said he doesn't think the controversy over the chemical plant has divided the community. The members of the Good Neighbors of South Davidson are nice people, he said.

"I see them around every day and talk to some of them," Craven said.

But the Good Neighbors' concern that the plant would change the nature of their community is unfounded, according to Craven.

"This is not going to bother them whatsoever," he said.

Morris said town officials have tried to address the concerns raised by the Good Neighbors.

"We're not trying to do anything that would be harmful to them or us," he said, "because we're all one community."

The town officials and the Good Neighbors agree on one thing, that the Denton area is a great place to live.

Craven, who was transferred to Denton in 1965 to work as the area service manager for Duke Power Co., said he likes living in a town where you know all your neighbors.

Morris, who grew up in Denton, said he used to be able to name everybody in town.

"But now we have a lot of new people moving in because it is such a good place to raise a family," he said. "It's a small, rural community and safe. My children can walk the streets or do Ômost anything and be safe."

The cost of housing in Denton is less than it is in bigger towns, Morris said, and the town has a good location. It's only about 45 miles to Greensboro one way and 45 miles to Charlotte the other.

The Smiths, who moved to the area about 20 years ago, said the quality of life makes their fight against the chemical plant worthwhile.

"It's the best community I've ever lived in," Smith said. "The people are friendly and hard working. I hope we don't ever leave.

"Why anybody would want to jeopardize this lifestyle, I have no idea."