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Orange County
Commission for the Environment
Meeting Summary
December 8, 2014
Orange County Solid Waste Administration Building, Chapel Hill
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PRESENT: Jan Sassaman (Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Loren Hintz, Donna Lee Jones,
David Neal, Steve Niezgoda, Bill Newby, Jeanette O’Connor, Gary Saunders, Sheila Thomas-
Ambat, Lydia Wegman, and David Welch
ABSENT: Rebecca Ray
STAFF: Rich Shaw, Tom Davis, Brennan Bouma GUEST: Thomas Eisenhart
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I. Call to Order – Sassaman called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
II. Ad ditions or Changes to Agenda – There were none.
III. Minutes – Sassaman asked for a motion on the November 10 meeting summary. Hintz
motioned to approve as written; seconded by Wegman. Approved unanimously.
IV. Introduction of New CFE Member and Staff – Sassaman welcomed new CFE member
Sheila Thomas-Ambat, and Brennan Bouma, Orange County’s new Sustainability
Coordinator. Sassaman asked both to introduce themselves and to describe some of
their background and interests, which they did. CFE members introduced themselves.
V. 2015 Meeting Calendar – The CFE approved its meeting calendar for 2015.
VI. Potential action items from CFE/BOCC dinner meeting – Sassaman asked CFE
members to review the list of subjects that were raised and discussed during the
October 14 dinner meeting with the board of county commissioners (BOCC). He
referred members to Attachments 5 and 6 in the meeting materials.
Niezgoda observed that the BOCC seemed receptive and interested in the
recommendations put forward by the CFE. Other members agreed.
Wegman noted Commissioner Gordon’s recommendation that the CFE help educate the
public on the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Becker noted the CFE
and BOCC adopted resolutions concerning fracking in 2012. Davis noted the CFE
summarized the fracking issues in its State of the Environment report. Sassaman
suggested the CFE use new modes of communication to help educate citizens about
this and other issues in the SOE report, such as an electronic newsletter and news
articles. He recommended sending this issue to the Water Resources Committee for
consideration. Hintz said this is not a high-priority issue for the CFE and Orange County.
Wegman noted Commissioner Dorosin’s interest in the CFE re-examining environmental
issues from a social justice viewpoint, including his example of overlaying groundwater
contamination maps with basic census data.
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Neal recommended some sort of response to the BOCC indicating the CFE appreciates
that feedback and is exploring adding a consideration of social justice in the CFE’s
overall charge from the BOCC.
Hintz noted some of the issues raised are in the purview of other advisory boards, such
as the Solid Waste Advisory Group (SWAG), the Orange Unified Transportation Board,
and Planning Board. O’Connor agreed, adding she does not believe the BOCC will pay
attention to what the CFE recommends on matters of solid waste and food composting
until the SWAG has had an opportunity to consider and discuss. Sassaman noted the
CFE only recommended that it would monitor these issues and support the SWAG.
Hintz suggested the issue of increasing the County’s composting of food waste may be
something the CFE should continue to push prior to it being addressed by the SWAG.
Sassaman noted that when he served on the former Solid Waste Advisory Board they
spent a lot of time on this issue. He agreed there ought to be an increase in volume of
food waste collection and composting. Becker noted that Commissioner Jacobs had
suggested that the County may want to establish a special composting facility.
Sassaman said the current process of collecting food waste, trucking it to Chatham
County, and then bringing back the finished product, is inefficient, however establishing
a County facility is would require land, machinery, and staff. Sassaman asked that this
matter be considered by the land Resources Committee.
Sassaman asked that these and other matters raised by the CFE and BOCC be
discussed by the committees when they meet later on the agenda.
VII. Updates and Information Items – Information on the following subjects was provided
and selected items were summarized by staff: a) CFE Annual Report and Work Plan
(2014-15), b) Orange County resolution on climate change, c) potential for solar energy
at County-owned buildings, d) Orange Well Net, e) Chapel Hill’s new incentives for
green construction, f) Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools diverting trash from landfill, g)
improvements at the Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant, h) Carrboro’s Energy
and Climate Protection Task Force, i) Orange County adopts parks and rec master plan,
j) Duke Energy’s plans for removing coal ash from four NC sites, k) Dan River spill
damage, l) the USEPA proposes lower ozone standard, and m) the proposed new rules
for the permitting of hydraulic fracturing in NC.
VIII. Committee Meetings – The CFE broke out into its standing committees (Air and Energy
Resources, Land Resources, and Water Resources) to initiate discussions of issues
assigned to each committee. Sassaman asked each committee to prioritize the issues
that it would like to work on in 2015 and to identify one spokesperson for reporting back
to the full CFE in January and to send its list of prioritized issues to the staff.
IX. Adjournment – Sassaman adjourned the meeting following the committee discussions,
at approximately 9:20 pm.
Summary by Rich Shaw, DEAPR Staff