By Marina Giovannelli
Wilmington, NC – The US Fish and Wildlife Service says the proposed site for Titan America's cement plant is an aquatic resource of national importance.
The service issued the designation because of endangered fish and bird species that migrate across state lines, and call the Northeast Cape Fear River their home for part of the year.
"What you do with endangered species, first, you determine if the species or the habitat is there, then you determine if there is an effect. If there is an effect, there are some steps you can take," says Henry Wicker, the US Army Corps of Engineers' project manager for the Titan America project.
Wicker adds that the cement plant's impacts on endangered species may be mitigated through conditional permits.
Wicker says the plant's impacts on endangered species may stop the project altogether, but that's not very likely.
Titan's environmental manager for the Castle Haynes plant says he is not sure if endangered species are even present on the site.
"There are going to be general studies in this area that say there is the potential for these types of species to exist in this area, for their habitats to be present, whether or not those species to exist on our property, whether or not those habitats are present on our property, and the actually impact it will have on those species, that will all have to be determined by those studies," says Jay Willis, Titan's environmental manager for the project.
Studies on the area will be reviewed by environmental agencies and the data will be included in an Environmental Impact Statement. The Army Corps of Engineers will refer to the statement when deciding whether to issue permits for the cement plant.