Bill Targeting NC Hugo Neu Facility Clears Committee

Two bills that seek to prevent Sims Hugo Neu from building a recycling center, storage and landfill complex in the two of Navassa, NC, passed a House Committee. The two bills, HB 427 and HB 428, were sponsored by Rep. Bonner Stiller and Rep. Dewey Hill. After passing by voice vote both bills were passed to other committees.

While the town of Navassa, which has struggled financially, supports the Sims facility, Brunswick County, where the city is located, opposes the facility.

The bills passed the House Committee on Local Government March 29, with one bill introduced to the Finance Committee while the other bill has been sent to the Judiciary Committee.

HB 427 is an act to repeal an annexation of the town of Navassa, adopted October 2003, and the property annexed by that ordinance is removed from the corporate limits of Navassa.

The second bill, HB 428, seeks to divest planning jurisdiction over certain property from the town and vest it in Brunswick County.

The proposed facility itself would be operated by North Carolina Recycling, a subsidiary of Sims Hugo Neu. According to a spokesman for Sims, the facility would recycle metals and other recyclables from the materials it will receive from the East Coast operations of its Sims Hugo Neu sister companies.

Only after North Carolina Recycling has separated all viable recyclables would North Carolina Recycling intend to send the remaining material for disposal at the landfill.

Opponents of the facility claim that the auto shredder fluff that would be shipped to the landfill/recycling complex, would, among other things; create environmental problems for the surrounding area, create an eyesore for the area; and sharply increase the amount of truck traffic going to the facility.

When Sims Hugo Neu initially proposed the facility they said that material would be shipped to the facility by truck and barge.

Along with the two bills winding there way through committee hearings, this past July the state of North Carolina passed a one-year moratorium on building new landfills in the state.

The Sims spokesman said that the company will continue to monitor the developments taking place in the North Carolina legislature, but has no plans to attend or comment on the plans at the present time.