“Mom! I know what I want for my birthday! I want New Indy to stop the pollution!” - I hear my son say as he walks out the door and sniffs the air. This is a tearjerker and a harsh slap of reality in my face. I look around our beautiful neighborhood which is a dream community for many. New homes with manicured lawns. Friendliest neighbors who are always ready to lend a helping hand. You can hear kids playing in the common areas, splashing at the pool, or organizing lemonade stands. A picture-perfect life in quaint Waxhaw where families can live the American dream.
 
Please sign our petition to make it that way again for everybody, asking:
1.    All state/municipal leaders to officially ask New Indy to upgrade chemical stripping equipment and aerate lagoons to control toxic emissions.

2.    Town Mayors and Boards to request that NC-DEQ install monitors for all the toxic chemicals, in each neighborhood where the problem is pervasive.

3.    NC Governor Cooper to set up a cross state task force with South Carolina including citizens of both states to resolve this toxic emission issue.
 
The problem is not what you can see, or sometimes even smell - it’s toxic air. Hydrogen sulfide, Methyl Mercaptan, and Methanol are among the chemicals released into the air by New Indy Containerboard.
 
- July 12th, 2021, The US EPA issued an emergency order, “…evidence that the concentrations of H2S in the air in and around the Facility (New Indy) present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health…”

https://response.epa.gov/sites/15198/files/1.%20Complaint.pdf 

- August 17, 2021, Reuters: “New-Indy’s most recent stack test revealed small particle pollution … up to 50 times higher than other large U.S. paper mills…No regulatory action has been taken against the mill for releasing soot and other pollutants at levels exceeding mills run by larger rivals and by the country’s largest oil refineries”

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/billionaire-krafts-paper-mill-causes-pollution-crisis-south-carolina-2021-08-17/
 
The end to pollution starts with YOU. Protect our health. Preserve our beautiful communities and towns. Silence implies consent.