Not in my backyard!

ANSONVILLE — Last Thursday Vanguard Renewables, a subsidiary of BlackRock, held a meet-and-greet social at the Ansonville Fire Department in an attempt to establish goodwill in the community, and explain the function of their proposed project, an Anaerobic Digestion and Depackaging Facility.

The facility is slated to be built on land owned by Stanly County farmers, Thurman Burleson and Sons. Several representatives from the company were available, including Michelle Durand and Vanguard Renewable’s Government Relations Manager Andre Herrera, who tried to address concerns, but only by answering one question per person.

According to the company, an anaerobic digestor works by using naturally occurring microorganisms, such as in spoiled food or waste, to break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. The primary purpose of this endeavor is to manage waste or produce fuel. Anaerobic digestors are frequently used to treat biodegradable wastes and can reduce the emission of landfill gases into the air.

Durand explained, “Sometimes a label is off on a product. Stores can’t sale it, it’s considered defunct. Rather than going to a landfill, it comes to us.”

When asked how the land in Ansonville came to be on Vanguard’s radar, Durand provided insight into her company’s scouting division.

“We like to partner with a farm that has ample amount of acreage to use our digestate project and who has interest in our digestate product. We made first contact; we reached out to the farm. We also made first contact with the county.”

Next, Durand was asked about how many permanent jobs the area could expect to add to its workforce following completion of the facility. She answered, “We will have eight to 10 permanent positions. Salaries and wage range from $20 to $40 an hour, with full benefits, and eligibility for overtime.”

Answering a question shouted from the crowd, Durand said, “We barely use any water. We only use about 4,000 gallons of water a day.”

Pam Carpenter wanted to know about transfer trucks.

She said, “Where I live, I wake up at 5 a.m. to transfer trucks running down my road. How many more trucks is your facility going to add?”

Herrera promised the facility would only add an additional 2-3 transfer trucks to the current traffic, however, later in the meeting, Durand said the facility would be adding 12-15 trucks per day. She added that Vanguard would be responsible for any damage done to the roads by them and they are currently working with county leaders to address those issues now.

Carpenter answered, “We do not want this coming to Anson County, send it somewhere else! Why would we want that? We don’t need it. Our roads are torn up all to pieces now with all the transfer trucks. We don’t have a state representative down here to fix the roads.”

Her daughter, Toni Rorie added, “We already smell Valley Protein and it’s a couple miles away.”

Herrera admitted, “There are some bad actors in our industry, but we stand by our mission. We are not bringing smells or trash.”

When asked about property value, Herrera answered, “Studies actually show property value increases in the area where our digestors are — some are multi-million-dollar homes. Property values are shown to fluctuate with the market. There are a lot of factors that affect property value.”

Ricky Wallace, a second-generation farmer in Anson County, responded, asking, “You mean to tell me if I crap all over your shoes, they are suddenly going to become more valuable? We are not the state’s dumping ground. It stinks so bad now no one wants to come to this county. We have lost 4,000 people in 10 years; there has got to be a stopping point somewhere.”

Wallace added, “Our roads are torn to pieces, we are missing street signs, and no one is out here fixing them now. Where are all our commissioners? They should all be here to hear our voices.”

His words prompted Commissioners Jamie Caudle, Kyle Leary, and Joshua Ellerbe to all wave their hands above the crowd to mark their presence.

Expressing his frustration, Matthew Wallace, who lives across the road from the proposed site, said, “Y’all have no problem with developing a facility in our neighborhoods. I bet you wouldn’t build your house in the middle of your facility. What do you do with your waste at home? You don’t live sitting around in rotten food, do you? Why should we? You don’t want to answer our questions; you just want to tiptoe around our questions.”

He added, “You just want to bring other people’s trash into our neighborhoods.”

Margaret Barrett has lived in her Ansonville home for 25 years, a home that just happens to be located right next door to the Burleson land, or the proposed site of the anaerobic digester.

Barrett asked, “Why was this kept a secret? I live right next door; my property is only separated from by a small grove of trees. Why do we never know when bad things are coming to this county?”

She said the first she knew about the proposed project was when a tiny sign appeared in her neighbor’s yard a couple of days ago.

“I could barely read it. One of the neighbors asked me about it,” says Barrett. “We are all on well water here — what if what they are doing pollutes our water?”

A friend who accompanied Barrett to the meet-and-greet, added, “They gave us no information, no link to any information, and we come here tonight and leave knowing the same stuff we knew when we got here. They came here with green-washed talking points.”

James Ortega, a 12-year landowner in Anson County gave voice to what so many wanted to know, “What is the benefit to our county? How do we benefit? You are leasing the land to make millions, but where do we, as the residents who live here, benefit? We aren’t even talking about our waste!”

Ortega continued, “They are owned by BlackRock, they can go anywhere. I checked; my property value goes down as soon as they get a permit. My property will be worth 25% of what it is now on the day their permit is signed.”

Taking over the mike, Chairman Jamie Caudle tried his hand at assuaging the crowd.

He said, “You are seeing county-wide zoning playing out. If you’ll remember that didn’t happen until 2022, before that, this plant would have been built. You couldn’t have said a word, I couldn’t have said a word, because they would have had every legal right to build it. County-wide zoning is what is allowing you to have input in this process.”

Following the Thursday night meet-and-greet, Jerel Miller said, “Vanguard Renewables so-called ‘informal meeting’ was a complete disaster and a blatant show of disrespect to this community. Citizens expected a formal presentation and an open question and answer but were instead met with a setup resembling an eighth-grade science fair, filled with posters and vague answers.”

Miller went on to applaud efforts made by the commissioners who were present, Ansonville Mayor Angela Caraway, and State Representative Mark Brody to hold Vanguard Renewables to the task of answering questions in a wider, more public forum than originally intended.

The Anson County Panning Board is holding a public hearing on Thursday, June 5 at the Anson County Government Center in Board Room 209 at 6 p.m. to discuss a proposed zoning map amendment from Rural Agriculture 3 to Conditional Zoning Heavy Industrial for portions of PIN 6459-00-31-8895, located at 3450 Red Hill Mt. Vernon Road, Wadesboro.