MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Durham, NC- The New Hill Community Association, which is waging a battle against placement of a sewage plant in the center of their historic district by the affluent towns of Cary, Apex and Morrisville, has been awarded the prestigious Indy Citizen Award by the Independent Weekly, a Durham-based Triangle newspaper. The Indy Citizen Award honors “people and groups whose activism has positively impacted their communities, whether it’s one neighborhood, a city or several counties.”
In accepting the award, NHCA President Paul Barth said, “We are humbled by this recognition and support for our efforts. This has truly been a community effort to protect our predominantly African-American community from becoming a dumping ground for our wealthy neighbors.”
The struggle of the New Hill Community is winning wide recognition for the justness of its cause and for the valor of the residents waging the struggle. Recently Rev. Clanton won the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network’s Florenza Moore Grant Community Award for 2010 for his “faithful work to protect the citizens, community and environment of New Hill.”
The New Hill Community Association recently scored a victory when the town of Holly Springs recently withdrew from the Western Wake Partners the conglomerate of towns attempting to cite their sewage plant in New Hill.
On behalf of the New Hill Community Association (NHCA), the Southern Coalition for Social Justice recently filed a Petition for Contested Case Hearing in the state Office of Administrative Hearings to challenge the Western Wake Partners’ proposed placement of a sewage treatment plant in the center of the New Hill community. Dozens of New Hill residents also recently participated in a public hearing in Apex, questioning the Western Wake Partner’s plan to discharge from the proposed sewage treatment plant into a distressed portion of the Cape Fear River.
Contact:
Chris Brook, attorney
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
(919) 323-3380 Chris@SouthernCoalition.org
Paul Barth
President, New Hill Community Association
(919) 539-8736
