To live in an industrial wasteland

or not. That is the question facing Person County, my home. We already have two large coal fired power plants in place in the northern part of the county; the Hyco lake plant is one of the most polluting power generating facilities in the country. We have a midsized commercial landfill in the southeast corner of the county that handles our trash and some trash from adjacent counties. We also have a Georgia-Pacific paper operation and a few lesser industries already in place.
But changes are coming and the future doesn't look good. Two new asphalt plants will be setting up shop in the county, possibly a quarry (explosions and big trucks on our roads) and the company that runs the land fill wants to triple the daily tonnage going into the landfill. Trucks already run every couple of minutes into the landfill, carrying the 650 tons that get dumped everyday. Recently our county commissioners voted to procede with the landfill expansion process (it's not a done deal ... yet) in spite of long and loud public opposition. The quality of life for those people living in that corner of the county has already diminished greatly due to odors, trash along the roads, noise from the trucks and worry over contaminated water sources. I cannot imagine what their lives will be like if the expansion becomes a reality.
Person County is on the verge of becoming an industrial wasteland, with polluted air and water poisoning our citizens. Children will be especially susceptible to the toxins these corporate operations will pump into our environment; toxins that will persist for decades. According to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Person County is already one of the most polluted counties in the nation. We have a higher thasn normal cancer rate. Could the two facts be related? Probably.
What sensible company (i.e. non-polluting) would want to bring their employees and their families to Person County with our stinking air, questionable water quality and the constant cacaphony of explosions and heavy trucks assaulting the ear?
This madness must end if Person County is to have any kind of positive future. We cannot continue down this road any further else the coming generations will flee as fast as they can, for the grass will be greener just about anywhere else.

Thanks for reading.