New Hill residents protest sewage plant plans

From The battle over where to build a wastewater treatment plant is heating up in western Wake County.

The battle over where to build a wastewater treatment plant is heating up in western Wake County.

The battle over where to build a wastewater treatment plant is heating up in western Wake County.
Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, and Morrisville officials want to put the facilities in New Hill, but those living there said it’s a rotten deal.
A toilet in the front yard could be a sign of an incompetent plumber, but Wayne Womble, a New Hill resident, has it there as a show of protest.
“We don’t consider this within reason,” Womble said. “I don’t want yours if you don’t want mine.”
He and many others living in New Hill are protesting a plan to build a wastewater treatment plant less than a mile down from downtown New Hill.
Womble stated, “This is really the only populated spot here and they want to put in right here in the middle of town.”
The plant would be built on a 200 acre site. And the $190 million dollar facility would process waste from Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and Holly Springs.
People in New Hill worry about the smell.
“I’m told by people who live near similar plants that it can be considerable,” Guy Meilleur, a New Hill resident stated.
There’s still another very big reason why they don’t want it. And that’s because most of the people out would have access to the plant because they use septic tanks.
Womble said, “It’s kind of like us going to your place and putting our outhouse in your backyard and taking the key home.”
Town of Cary officials said they’ve studied this issue for years and New Hill is the best fit for a number of reasons.
“A very important criteria to us was to not have to relocate anymore families than we had to,” Kim Fisher, a Cary representative, said.
It’s also one of the few single tracks of land large enough and economically viable.
And officials said the way western Wake is growing, the plant will be desperately need in the near future.
Fisher added, “We’re just trying to be good stewards to our customers.”
Womble isn’t arguing about the need, he said either hook the town up to the plant or put it somewhere else.
Cary officials said they plan to have the wastewater treatment plant up and running in late 2010.

Source: News 14 Carolina

From http://www.news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=70628