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They came from Cary, Morrisville, Apex and Chapel Hill. They packed the seats of the 100-year-old First Baptist Church. They spoke their minds. And they listened to a panel of pastors, scholars, and environmental activists. It was all part of a Saturday summit aimed at bolstering opposition to a $300 million sewage treatment plant in New Hill, an unincorporated section of southwestern Wake County. "We had no vote, we'll get no benefit," said Paul Barth, president of New Hill Community Association, an organization that formed in 2005 to oppose the project. The wastewater plant, proposed by four western Wake towns, would be built adjacent to homes and churches at the heart of this rural crossroads. Construction could begin this year. But before it does, New Hill residents wanted the towns to hear their plea: Consider building elsewhere. "Why is there such a big rush?" Barth said before the rally. "Why can't we sit down and really consider the alternative sites?" Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Holly Springs formed the Western Wake Partnership to pursue construction of the wastewater treatment plant to meet the needs of their fast-growing populations. Cary, Apex and Morrisville would send waste to the plant, and treated wastewater would then be sent to the Cape Fear River. Holly Springs plans to use the facility's pipe to send its own treated waste to the river. Applications for building permits for the wastewater plant could be submitted as early as May, assuming the site meets environmental standards set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The partnership says it picked the New Hill area because it is the most logical place for treating the sewage. Opponents say New Hill may have been targeted because of its demographics. "There's a trend of these types of facilities being put into low-income communities, communities of color that lack political power," said Elena Everett, spokeswoman for Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which helped organize the summit. Henry Wicker, a special projects manager for the Corps of Engineers, said the proposed plant would have little negative repercussions for surrounding wetlands. The corps may make a final recommendation in May. Summit organizers are hoping that continued community pressure, which has helped delay the project by several years, will persuade regulators to strike down the New Hill location. ted.richardson@nando.com or 919-460-2608

WAKE COUNTY - On Saturday, March 20th, a group of residents in the New Hill community will host a meeting that will highlight the group’s opposition to a proposed waste water treatment plant in their community. The event is being organized by the New Hill Community Association, in conjunction with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. The event will be held at the First Baptist Church at 3016 New Hill Holleman Road in the Wake County community of New Hill from 9am to 12pm noon. Media are invited to attend the summit and asked to be present for a 12:15 news briefing outside the church, which is adjacent to the site of the prospective sewage treatment plant. The event will also be a “summit on environmental justice and environmental racism,” say organizers. The Environmental Justice Summit will focus on the history and legacy of environmental racism in North Carolina, and on environmental consequences that Site 14 will place on the New Hill community, say organizers. Organizers say that “Site 14,” which is located in the New Hill historic district, is the preferred location for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facility. The proposal to put the facility in the area is “causing great concern among New Hill residents and their supporters.” New Hill is a rural community in Western Wake County, located near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant. According to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the residents around the New Hill site are being treated unfairly because of their socioenomic status. “There are clear environmental injustices in this case,” says the group on their website. “The population surrounding the site is upwards of 75% ethnic/racial minorities.” In addition, even though the plant would be next door, the local residents would not receive sewage services. “Ironically, the community does not currently have access to sewer services, and only the property that is directly adjacent to the plant would be connected to it,” says the coalition. Since 2005, residents have been opposing efforts by the Western Wake Partners, an organization comprised of the towns of Cary, Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville, to place a wastewater treatment plant in middle of their community. Those opposed to the plant say that those residents in those towns who will benefit from the plant are nowhere near it. “Towns represented in Western Wake Partners are all far from the borders of New Hill,” says the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Speakers at the summit will include Gary Grant, Director of the NC Environmental Justice Network and attorney Chris Brook of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Also speaking will be Dr. Steve Wing, a UNC Chapel Hill researcher and epidemiologist, Reverend James Clanton of the First Baptist Church New Hill, and Paul Barth, President of the New Hill Community Association.