Coal Ash Coalition holds vigil
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on January 24, 2017 10:06 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Shera Edwards Rowe speaks with a group assembled to plant a pink dogwood tree at her home Monday night near the H.F. Lee Plant.
Residents of the Rosewood community and members of the Down East Coal Ash Coalition came together Monday night to plant a pink dogwood tree as part of the Statewide Day of Action for Climate Justice, sponsored by the North Carolina Climate Justice Summit.
A group of around 20 people, young and old, gathered at 1783 Old Smithfield Road to plant the tree, which DECAC community organizer Bobby Jones said represented the rebirth of the community after what they say are lives lost to coal ash poisoning from the nearby H.F. Lee power plant basins.
"We want to send a very strong message to whoever is listening that we are a codependent community, and that is doesn't matter our political party, our race or what side of the street we live on, we are going to continue to rely on each other," he said to calls of agreement. "No more poisoning our water, no more killing our neighbors."
Jones and DECAC have long asserted that coal ash dumped or spilled into the Neuse River has contaminated wells in the Rosewood community, leading to a high rate of death from cancer. Shera Edwards Rowe, who owns the home where the group assembled, said she lost three family members to different kinds of the disease.
"Both my grandfathers helped build the original power plant, and they both died of cancer. So did my father," she said. "My next-door neighbor also had cancer, and the one next to him as well, and the one all the way on the end there."
Ms. Rowe pointed out a spot in her backyard, where the otherwise grass-covered ground was bare dirt.
"That's where the well used to be," she said. "They dug it up and tried to plant grass there, but nothing has ever grown there."
Mindy Robertson, a Rosewood resident and DECAC member, spoke before the tree was planted.
"We're coming here today to honor the lives lost to what I believe is the criminal pollution of the Neuse River," she said. "But this tree also represents the life that can come from something like this, and as it grows, so will we grow.
"The time is now for clean power," she added. "These lives don't have to have been lost in vain."
When the time came to plant the tree, things moved along quite quickly. Nearly everyone pitched in -- the young children especially -- to help place the tiny tree and cover it back with earth.
With that, bishop Anthony Slater offered a closing prayer, and the group began to depart.
Jones said that, while DECAC is a non-partisan group with members from both political parties, he was excited to begin working with Gov. Roy Cooper to fix Rosewood's problems.
"I think he's going to be quite receptive, from what I've seen," he said, adding that regardless of political affiliations, the group would stay loyal to itself and its community members.
"Cancer doesn't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. We'll maintain our interdependence and support each other," he said.