The Fight for Local Control
Ashe County, North Carolina
Many rural counties are defending themselves as best they can from the negative impacts of coal ash dumping, natural gas pipelines and asphalt plants. The state issues air and water permits for industrial facilities, but local governments can control where they are located. Countywide polluting industries ordinances can do this. In the Ashe County case, a disabled children’s camp is located near the site of a proposed asphalt plant.
Ashe County v. Ashe County Planning Board, NC Court of Appeals, Case No. 18-253
Synopsis: The basis for this case is local land use as defined by the Ashe County Polluting Industries Ordinance, the result of a BREDL campaign in 1998-99. In 2016 Ashe County Commissioners challenged its own Planning Board’s decision to allow an asphalt plant on the South Fork of the New River (Ashe County Superior Court, 16 CVS 514). Interestingly, the Planning Dept. Director denied approval for the plant under the ordinance. But the lower court ruled in favor of the Planning Board and the asphalt plant. So, in 2018, in response to the people, Ashe County filed for writ of certiorari and judicial review to the Court of Appeals. BREDL and its chapter Protect Our Fresh Air support the continuing effort by Ashe County elected officials to reverse the Planning Board, prevent asphalt plant pollution and protect the community.