The people at Solutia/Monsanto have proposed a plan for the western part of Anniston that looks pretty nice on paper.They’re calling it the Nehemiah Project and it would turn 22 acres of blight into what would amount to a public park, with trails and a reservoir. It would also include a farmer’s market and a business center.
It could be a good thing for this part of town, indeed for the whole area. But we need a lot of questions answered before this project is allowed to take off.
To begin with, this is an area of town that is known to be highly contaminated with PCBs. And so far it is unclear just exactly what the levels of contamination are for all of the areas in question. (The 22 acres include separate tracts of land.) We should make sure that all of the areas, including a retention pond that forms the centerpiece of the project, be thoroughly tested. At the very least — and we should demand this – the levels of PCBs in the proposed areas should be as low as that which is deemed safe for residential use. Anything above that is unacceptable.
We should also make the point that the comment by Solutia/Monsanto that the properties are clean, is disingenuous. The fact is, we do not know that for sure yet. Further evaluation is required under state and federal law.
Also the Environmental Protection Agency should evaluate this project. We should not allow this project to move forward without some input from that organization.
We’ve no doubt that Solutia/Monsanto is trying to do what is best for the community. But then again, it’s about time isn’t it? Especially when one considers the way the company has been part of abusing the community in the past. And we’ve no doubt that the company is confident this is a solid and safe plan. We know that because certainly the company doesn’t want to open itself up to any more lawsuits.
Still, we want to be sure, and the best way to do that is to involve the EPA and to make certain all of the areas have levels of contamination no higher than those deemed safe for residences.
David Cain, Solutia’s plant manager, and others with the company have put a lot into the community recently. But they should have involved more of the people of the western part of the city in formulating this idea, and they should have alerted the EPA that they were going to announce the project on Tuesday.
That is the inclusive way of developing this project.
We sure hope the Nehemiah Project works out in the end. It would be good for the city and the county if it does. But it would only complicate the overall problem of PCB contamination in our area if we move forward with this idea before making sure that everything is in order and that everyone is on board.
