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I have finally completed the walking tour map! There are so many other stories and dreams that we want to include. But it is a start!
There are brief descriptions of each site on the back page. A QR code for each page is located to the left of each site. There are links to videos and pictures on the web site.
Yesterday, I spoke in Durham at both the 2024 Durham Carbon Plan Rally and inside in front of the NC Utilities Commission. I wrote this one speech to basically use for both. I was excited to find the details about California’s use of sustainable energy during a break for the stenographer.
I was disappointed that four of the seven commissioners were not present for the public. Perhaps this is a reflection of their intent to do nothing to help us reach carbon reduction goals.
Thank you for those who included me in part of the planning and allowing me to speak and share pictures of those I love: Annie Brown, Danielle Bailey-Lash and David Hairston. They were officially entered into the public record as my evidence.
My name is Caroline Rutledge Armijo. I live in Greensboro. I am the founder of The Lilies Project and I work in my family law practice in Walnut Cove. I am a community leader in the frontline community surrounding Belews Creek Power Station.
Today I have photos of three of my fellow community leaders who have died way too young. Annie Brown, 68, Danielle Bailey-Lash 45 and David Hairston, 63. They do not represent all of the people who have passed away over the last decade since the Dan River Spill - just those in our group. The number of premature deaths in our community is far too great to count.
On the day of David’s funeral, environmental leaders from the Southeast gathered in Walnut Cove. The same day, Duke Energy rolled out publicity for nuclear at Belews Creek in the Winston-Salem Journal. While Duke touted an exaggerated number of jobs that typically go to out-of-state workers, who live in camp sites, they minimized the need for solar jobs. There was no mention of nuclear waste. And they buried the most startling fact - they plan to burn coal at Belews Creek until 2036. One year after their original plan to retire the plant. Six years after the Carbon Plan goal of reducing carbon emissions by 70% by 2030.
Our County Commissioners welcome the nuclear plant, but none of the elected officials live in the impacted community and their views do not reflect the views of frontline community members.
Duke Energy plans to do nothing at Belews Creek until 2034, which is when they HOPE to have the SMR online. That is an ambitious deadline considering it will be the first permitted in the country and numerous projects have failed to gain permits or been abandoned. Actual planning-to-operation time could take decades. The article doesn’t include the waste storage that would need to be managed for 200,000 years. We are also at risk for housing waste from other facilities without the benefit of every producing any energy. Stokes County is not a toxic dumping ground. The cost of nuclear is astronomical while renewables’ price tags continue to plummet.
Georgia had a nuclear reactor go online yesterday. Utilities are excited, but I want to point out it was pitched 15 years ago. It is seven years late and $20 billion over budget. Rates have skyrocketed. North Carolinians are already shocked as their rates have tripled in some places do to extreme weather this past February. These SMRs haven’t even been approved yet.
I am dismayed that the Utilities Commission would find it acceptable to allow Duke Energy to postpone real solutions that we can build now. Instead Duke suppresses and chokes the demand of solar across the state. From 2022-2023, we only had 2% solar growth. Florida 28%; Texas solar grew by 25% the same year. Relying on renewables is doable and happening in other states. (1) California used 100% sustainable energy the last 25 or 32 days.
Perhaps Texas learned from their disaster when natural gas failed to provide electricity during a cold streak creating a state of emergency. I also experienced Duke’s unannounced rolling black outs on Christmas Eve 2022. It was the first day of the cold snap. Not even 24 hours of below freezing temperatures. A decade earlier we were in the same house with temperatures below freezing for over ten days. We never lost power. But we did within 24 hours since Duke switched Belews Creek over to 50/50 coal and natural gas. We now know that natural gas is unreliable in extreme weather and we now experience extreme weather on a daily basis.
I have no words for what we watched in horror during 2023. And this weekend’s tornados. There were well over 100 confirmed in the Midwest. Climate change is our new reality. This February was the warmest month on record, a whopping 7 degrees increase in the United States. Duke can no longer determine its own fate. We desperately need you, the Utilities Commission, to demand Duke meets the 70% reduction by 2030.
Sarah, the Saura Princess, stands outside the Museum of History in Downtown Raleigh. Her remains were discovered in the bend across the Dan River from the Belews Creek Power Plant. This is sacred land that deserves to be protected. A new State Forest adjoins the property. A branch of the Mountains to Sea Trail is waiting to see if Duke gets it permit, eager to develop recreational facilities on the land.
Radioactive contamination of the Dan River would endanger thousands of peoples' drinking water, our wildlife, and the health of all who enjoy these waters. Local economies that rely on river recreation would be devastated. Life as we have known it would be changed forever.
After fifty years of economic injustice, our citizens deserve your decision to pivot towards a healthy and prosperous future that benefits all of us, not just Duke’s shareholders. You have the power to make the change our entire world deserves and demands.
1-https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/5Vty7kLXwx4csHEm4ztlJ7/a9f69694c2af467387cb3c088f171127/2024WindSolar_Edited.pdf
The North Carolina Utilities Commission is currently seeking public feedback on the Carbon Plan, and will hold five public hearings throughout North Carolina this April. Appalachian Voices and our allies have developed tools and resources to walk you through the process of participating in a public hearing. Attending a hearing is a simple and powerful way to share your concerns and have a voice in our energy future.
Asheville — Tuesday April 9 at 7:00 p.m.
Charlotte — Wednesday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Virtual — Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m.
Wilmington — Monday April 29 at 7:00 p.m.
Durham — Tuesday, April 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Speaking in front of the Utilities Commission is optional — just your presence is an important way to show support for clean energy in North Carolina. However, if you would like to speak at the hearing, we’ll support you to ensure you feel prepared. Sign up to attend a hearing now!
Right now, North Carolina is developing its Carbon Plan, a roadmap for the state’s energy future that will influence how electricity is generated, the cost of electricity in years to come, and whether our state meets its pollution reduction goals.
You can share your thoughts on the Carbon Plan by submitting a written statement to the North Carolina Utility Commission, the regulatory body that will decide the direction of the final plan. The Commission considers written statements as part of their decision-making process.
Your written comment can be mailed to the Commission or submitted online.
Submit a comment on the NCUC website. Use Docket No. E 100 Sub 190.
Send in a comment by mail. Be sure to include Docket No. E 100 Sub 190. Mail your comments to 4325 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-4300
The final Carbon Plan is not decided yet, let’s work together to shape a better energy future for NC!
Questions? Email Naomi Albert, N.C. Field Coordinator, at naomi[at]appvoices.org
The Carbon Plan is the result of bipartisan legislation that requires the North Carolina Utilities Commission to develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions from the state’s electricity utilities. Passed in 2021, the law requires that the state take all reasonable steps to reduce carbon emissions from electric utilities 70% by 2030 and reaches carbon neutrality by 2050. The Carbon Plan is a roadmap for how the state will generate electricity and reduce its carbon emissions in the years to come.
The state is currently in the process of updating the Carbon Plan, which will be updated every two years. As part of the update process, the public has the opportunity to comment on the draft plan through public hearings.
NC Utilities Commission’s Carbon Plan Order, By Alex Clingman, NC Sustainable Energy Association, February 6, 2023
Along with the Dan Riverkeeper, The Lilies Project opposes nuclear at Duke Energy’s Belews Creek Power Station or at any other Duke Energy Locations.
The nuclear plant is incredibly expensive. We already have renewable technology available now that is far cheaper. Many nuclear projects never make it online and the rate payer still has to pay the exorbitant price tag for the facility.
Building a nuclear facility takes a tremendous amount of time and delays Duke’s legal obligation to stop burning coal by 2035.
The nuclear process will create dangerous pollution that must be maintained for perpetuity. In South Carolina, the nuclear facility never went online but became a very expensive landfill for nuclear waste from other facilities and other countries. No more waste at Belews Creek!
Read more about why we should not have nuclear at the Good Stewards web site.
Please reach out if you want to be part of our movement to stop nuclear at Belews.
February 2nd, 2024 marks the ten-year anniversary of the Dan River Spill. Five years ago, The Lilies Project hosted a Prayer by the Dan River. This year, we are resurrecting the Alliance of Carolinians Together (ACT) against Coal Ash, as we prepare for the public comment period for Duke’s Carbon Plan.
Following is an overview of what’s happened over the last ten years, as compiled by Ridge Graham with Appalachian Voices.
Feb. 2 2014 @ approx 3 p.m → approx. 39,000 tons of ash and 27 million gallons of ash pond water through buried storm sewer → Duke Energy Dan River Steam Station https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=984
Feb. 8 2014 → Six days after the spill, Duke Energy announces that the leakage has stopped and they plan on cleaning up the coal ash. https://www.southernenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-6-27-Southern-Environmental-Law-Center-NC-coal-ash-timeline.pdf
May 2 2014 → EPA enters financial agreement with Duke Energy to address Feb 2014 coal ash spill at Eden. Agreement requires Duke Energy to perform comprehensive assessment and removal at an estimated cost of 1M. Additionally, Duke Energy will pay EPA 2 mil for past and future costs associated with the spill. https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/case-summary-duke-energy-agrees-3-million-cleanup-coal-ash-release-dan-river
September 2014 → NC’s First in the Nation Coal Ash Law takes effect https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2014/9/north-carolinas-first-in-the-nation-coal-ash-law/
“The 2014 Coal Ash Management Act mandated that four Duke Energy sites designated as “high priority” — Dan River, Sutton, Asheville, and Riverbend — needed to close by 2019, with all the ash removed.” Energy News Network → Intermediate risk sites by 2024, and low risk sites to close by 2029 https://energynews.us/2022/08/29/to-excavate-or-not-to-excavate-with-toxic-coal-ash-that-is-the-question/
Feb. 20 2015 → Federal prosecutors file criminal charges against three subsidiaries of Duke Energy for violating the Clean Water Act. Nine misdemeanor charges in all in North Carolina’s three federal court districts. https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-criminal-charges-duke-20150220-story.html
May 14 2015 → Duke Energy’s operating companies plead guilty to all charges and are ordered to pay a 102 million dollar fine. 68 million went to criminal fines and the other 34 to environmental projects in NC and Virginia. Duke Energy is put on nationwide criminal probation. https://appvoices.org/2020/02/25/beginning-of-the-end-of-north-carolinas-coal-ash-crisis/
2015 → Appalachian Voices helps bring together NC community groups and leaders for a conversation → Alliance of Citizens Together Against Coal Ash → Pressures NCDEQ plans to not push “cap-in-place” plans https://appvoices.org/2020/02/25/beginning-of-the-end-of-north-carolinas-coal-ash-crisis/
March 2016 → McCrory shuts down Coal Ash Management commission over questions of legality https://www.utilitydive.com/news/north-carolina-coal-ash-commission-abruptly-shuts-down/415926/
August 2016 → NC State Epidemiologist Megan Davies under McCrory admin → says DHHS “deliberately misleads the public” http://epimonitor.net/NC-Epidemiologist-Resigns.htm
April 1 2019 → Communities across the state informed that NCDEQ ordered Duke to excavate all six of its North Carolina coal ash ponds that did not have clean up orders in place. https://appvoices.org/2020/02/25/beginning-of-the-end-of-north-carolinas-coal-ash-crisis/
April 26 2019→ Duke Energy appeals order, SELC intervenes on the case with seven other orgs (including App Voices)
October 2019 → Excavation of Dan River impoundments and coal ash stacks complete. https://www.southernenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-6-27-Southern-Environmental-Law-Center-NC-coal-ash-timeline.pdf
Jan. 2 2020 → State announces settlement, confirms Duke Energy required to excavate ash ponds https://appvoices.org/2020/02/25/beginning-of-the-end-of-north-carolinas-coal-ash-crisis/
June 2020 → Excavation of coal ash from the Sutton site in Wilmington is completed. https://www.southernenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-6-27-Southern-Environmental-Law-Center-NC-coal-ash-timeline.pdf
May 2022 → Excavation of coal ash from the unlined Asheville coal ash lagoons is completed. https://www.southernenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-6-27-Southern-Environmental-Law-Center-NC-coal-ash-timeline.pdf
May 17, 2023 → EPA announces latest action plan to protect communities from coal ash, requiring safe management of legacy coal ash sites in federally un-regulated areas. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-latest-action-protect-communities-coal-ash-contamination
I still cannot believe that we have lost David Hairston, The Lilies Project Community Partner. I had the honor and privilege of sharing some personal moments with David at the funeral service, which was a beautiful Homegoing Celebration. These are my words:
Good Afternoon. My name is Caroline Rutledge Armijo. I am the director of The Lilies Project for which David was my community partner.
First I want to thank Sandra and the family for inviting me to speak today. My many prayers are with you through this time. It is a great honor and privilege to share about my dear friend, David, whom I will greatly miss.
I first met David through the coal ash movement here in Walnut Cove. It quickly became a shared passion of ours. When given the opportunity to apply for the funding which resulted in The Lilies Project, David was the obvious choice as the lead community partner. The Lilies Project was an opportunity to move beyond advocating for the coal ash clean up. We had three primary goals: FIRST to advocate for clean up coal ash and impact policy, SECOND to create art out of coal ash and identify special places in the area, and THIRD to build community. David was the perfect partner to lead the way. More than anything, this was our chance to highlight what is extraordinary about Walnut Cove and SE Stokes County and her people.
David was always focused on the children and what he wanted them to experience. Through a sparkle in his eyes, he shared so many wonderful stories about his childhood in Stokes County. He had a true gift for building community and had a clear vision for the future here in this community that we must continue to work together to fulfill.
David was adamant that we create a documentary on the life of John L. Hairston so that every student in Stokes County would know the history of the integration of the schools and the town of Walnut Cove. When we debuted the film, we celebrated with a weekend of music, laughter and David’s delicious fish fry. On the third day, John L’s birthday, former VP Al Gore and Rev Barber showed up. David stood by their side and shared a moving account of the suffering he had heard from his family and friends for all of the world to hear, broadcast from the boat dock at Belews Lake.
Following the Celebrating Courage Weekend, we shifted into a more playful mode of celebrating the legendary Gymnastics Shows at Southeastern under the direction of Jane and Rick Williams. David participated in the first ever gymnastics show and my class was the last. We were bookends to a time when everyone in the community showed up to watch the amazing talents of all of the students working together in unison.
Through all of this, we were also dreaming up ideas of what we hoped to see for the future of Walnut Cove. Art throughout the town, a greenway connecting the Walnut Tree into Walnut Cove, and of highest priority, a community center honoring the legacy of David’s beloved mother, Mrs. Mildred Hairston. We already see his vision in the ground at the Walnut Tree playground, his pride and joy.
David’s big heart contained a clear vision and passion for Walnut Cove. It is reflected in the words he spoke every chance he got and the life he lived. The way he was determined to annex the Walnut Tree into the town, despite consistently being turned down. He served on numerous boards protecting the environment of the place he loved with Appalachian Voice, ACT against Coal Ash, Residents of Coal Ash Clean up and The Lilies Project. He also served on the board of the Walnut Cove Public Library and the Hanging Rock State Park Steering Committee. David visited youth organizations to share about the harms of tobacco, asking children to vow not to use tobacco products, which also gave the group a donation of $1000.
My favorite moments with David were more personal. He soon found a place on my phone’s favorite list, right under my Dad. David was truly the big brother I never had. Always encouraging and curious. Excited to share his favorite memories, on more than one occasion, we walked down through the woods in the Walnut Tree, to see the ford where he road dirt bikes where Lick Creek and Town Fork Creek meet. He showed me the Indian burial ground where his ancestors rest. He showed me the railroad trellis, even though I was too scared to go down the bank of the tracks. He told me about the chimney of the abandoned glass house behind his mother’s home. (I wasn’t willing to walk through the briars!) He took me to Danbury to see the little church he grew up in and loved. He told me about how he got candy everyday from the store that is now ArtsPlace in Danbury. He talked about roller skating in downtown Walnut Cove and how the Palmetto was integrated for the kids to watch movies together once a week.
David was a giant man, who was truly a child at heart. He was passionate about doing everything he could to create those wonderful, playful opportunities for the children of Walnut Cove. David has a very clear vision of what he wants to see happen in our community. It is our turn to step up and work together. To Build his dreams, all of his dreams. And to also be a watch dog for everyone in the area from polluters like Duke Energy. We must listen to the concerns of our neighbors and take action. That was what David was all about. He left the world way too soon. But he is with us in spirit and guiding us to fulfill his vision.
I love you, David. May you enjoy deep rest for you have worked hard. May you know that your mother is so proud of you and that we all are.
NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release
March 1, 2023
Contact: Ellen Bintz Meuch
World Labyrinth Day Coord. 630-235-2150
wld@labyrinthsociety.org
Walk as One for Peace on World Labyrinth Day
Trumansburg, N.Y. — On Saturday, May 6, 2023, thousands of people will participate in the fifteenth annual World Labyrinth Day as a moving meditation for peace and celebration of the labyrinth experience. Whether you are familiar with labyrinths or new to the idea of non-maze labyrinth paths, all are welcome to learn more and take part.
World Labyrinth Day is an international event held on the first Saturday each May, sponsored by The Labyrinth Society in collaboration with partner organizations including the Australian Labyrinth Network, Legacy Labyrinth Project, and Veriditas. Together these organizations are preparing resources and offering a series of pre-World Labyrinth Day workshops to empower individuals and groups to plan their own local World Labyrinth Day events.
Many participants will “Walk as One at 1” by walking a labyrinth at 1:00 p.m. local time to create a rolling wave of peaceful energy passing from one time zone to the next around the globe. There will be individual walks, local community celebrations (with all applicable health precautions) and worldwide connections through online events and social media. Existing labyrinths will be visited, and new temporary or permanent labyrinths will be built.
Labyrinths are found throughout the world with the oldest dating back thousands of years. In contemporary use, labyrinths provide an opportunity for personal reflection, spiritual practice, or the reduction of stress in many different public and private settings. Over 6,000 labyrinths are listed on the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator website: labyrinthlocator.com.
Labyrinth walkers may also choose to participate in the third annual Big Connection research project, the first global humanity research experiment utilizing the labyrinth and asking the question, “What is the impact of walking labyrinths collectively with heart centered intention and the impact that it has for ourselves and our planet?” Labyrinth Activism is a term that has emerged from the prior studies in 2021 and 2022. This year the researchers are further exploring the process of labyrinth activism, how to initiate it, and asking participants to record their experiences. More information can be found at worldlabyrinthday.org or legacylabyrinthproject.org, beginning March 7th.
The first World Labyrinth Day was celebrated in 2009 and included events in New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States, and many other locations. The Labyrinth Society Global Group on Facebook, created in tandem with World Labyrinth Day, has since grown to over 15,000 members from 100 different countries, with steady use throughout the year and a peak in activity every year around World Labyrinth Day. Visit worldlabyrinthday.org for more information, resources, and ways to participate.
The Labyrinth Society is a U.S.-based international nonprofit organization founded in 1998 whose mission is to support all those who create, maintain, and use labyrinths, and to serve the global community by providing education, networking, and opportunities to experience transformation.
This week, ACT against Coal Ash reconnected in Chapel Hill to host a press conference concerning the 828 MLK Drive Property Redevelopment Plan, which currently houses the Police Station.
Check out the press release and the live stream here.
Thank you to Claire Haile for her excellent story,” 'David fighting Goliath': For Walnut Cove residents, environmental activism is personal,” as part of the 2022 Summer Youth Reporting Institute at WUNC in Chapel Hill. Haile interviewed David Hairston and Caroline Armijo about their environmental activism.
Listen to the story or read the full story here.
About Claire Haile
Claire Haile grew up in the Greensboro area. She is a rising sophomore at Davidson College, where her interests include history, anthropology, and gender and sexuality studies. Her interest in research, writing, and community stories drew her to the Youth Reporting Institute. Claire looks forward to using the skills she’s gained this summer to continue to learn and write about individuals and communities facing challenges.
About WUNC 2022 Youth Reporting Institute
This summer we continued to adapt to the new normal by running our summer radio institute in a hybrid format. With the American Tobacco Studios as our home base students had the opportunity to work within our newsroom, and from home. Using in-person training, Zoom calls, Instagram, and our curriculum website, we took youth reporters through the process of producing a radio story - from pitching to interviews to script-writing and editing. We worked with 8 high school and college students ages 16-20 from across the Triangle and Triad area.
On Sunday, October 16th, Christ Episcopal Church will host a labyrinth dedication following its morning worship service. The worship service will begin at 9:30 am and the labyrinth dedication will happen immediately following at 10:45 am. The service also includes the dedication of a bench in memory of Jack and Barbara Gentry. Jack Gentry served as the mayor of Walnut Cove from 1959-1971. Both were members of the community and Christ Church for many years.
All community members are welcome to attend the services.
At 1 pm, group members from The Lilies Project welcome the community to walk the labyrinths, learn more about opportunities to engage in the labyrinth walking practice, and connect with other community members. At 2 pm, the event will shift to Cove Square to spend time walking the labyrinth there. Walking Tour Information will be available on the Christ Church Community House porch at 412 Summit Street until 2:30 pm. The event concludes at 3 pm.
The brick-inlaid labyrinth at Christ Church is the first of several installations as part of The Lilies Project Walking Tour. Nathan Wiles from InnateCreations designed and installed the labyrinth in January 2020. A second labyrinth was installed at Cove Square by the same artist in June 2021. An additional installation location includes the basketball court mural at London Park. Around a dozen sites will be included on the final tour, which will be unveiled in Spring 2023.
As part of the multi-year creative placemaking endeavor, Caroline Armijo, Director of The Lilies Project, discovered that Walnut Cove residents wanted more opportunities to walk for health benefits. “Community members consistently expressed interest in walking. Two team members were particularly moved by labyrinths: Tammy Hill and Danielle Bailey-Lash. The Lilies Project installed two labyrinths in Downtown Walnut Cove as part of The Lilies Project Walking Tour. A third canvas Labyrinth is available as a resource to use throughout Stokes County.”
In keeping with the walking theme, The Lilies Project supported the development of Walnut Cove’s Greenway Plan, which the Town of Walnut Cove adopted at the September Town Council Meeting. During the October 16th gathering, Armijo plans to kick off community conversations around developing a friends group to support the Walnut Cove Greenway, Mountains to Sea Trail and other recreational development in the Southeastern Stokes area. “Stokes County is fortunate to have rich cultural and natural resources with a beautiful landscape and many recreational opportunities. We are hoping that we can all come together and collaborate on big picture plans for what we hope to see develop in the area.”
Save the Date: For Black History Month, The Lilies Project and the Stokes County Historical Society will host a screening fo The Lilies of The Field, featuring local composer Jester Hairston on Sunday, February 12th at 2:30 pm at the Palmetto Theater. A Mountains to Sea Trail representative will present images from 1938 USDA Aerial Photographs of the area to help identify landmarks prior to the creation of Belews Lake in the early 1970s.
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I regret that I will not be fully present for tonight’s EPA EJ Listening Session hosted by the Dan Riverkeeper at the Carolina Marina. Fortunately the format is both virtual and in-person, so I am submitting these comments to the EPA and pointing them to links of a lot of great stories we have shared over the years.
In 2016, Walnut Cove Public Library hosted the US Civil Rights Commission on Coal Ash. A lot of powerful testimony was shared as part of that hearing. I encourage the EPA to read back through those stories. Even though the NC DEQ decided to clean up the coal ash in 2019, it is a lengthy clean up process and does not change much for the citizens. People are still sick and dying at a disturbing rate. We are unsure when the general health of the community will improve, if ever. (See information below)
In 2019, we collected a series of stories from citizens at the NC DEQ Hearing as part of their public comment period for Duke’s desire to cap the coal ash in place. We set up a photography booth and recorded audio stories from the participants. We then edited the stories into a pdf document that was submit to the state as part of the public comments. This project is known as The Faces of Belews Creek and is on display as part of a current installation about coal ash in Belews Creek and The Lilies Project.
Duke Energy is providing household water filters for homes within a certain perimeter around the coal ash pond. Some homes were unfairly excluded. Duke continues to maintain the filters. However the citizens statewide have a general distrust of Duke Energy being on their property and the standards to which the water is being held. No new water infrastructure was developed as a result of the well contamination. However, there is still an option to build a water intake facility upstream from Duke Energy on the Dan River. Water pipes were placed to the double bridges on Hwy 311 years ago. That infrastructure development would provide the impacted community with clean water, not contaminated, yet filtered water maintained by someone they distrust.
Some of the citizens are upset that with the settlement with the state, land owners were never compensated for the loss of their property value. There is no clear legal means by which they can pursue environmental justice for not only their health, but also fiscal losses by being neighbors to Duke Energy. The Warren Family, included in the At What Cost video, are one of the families who believe their land values have declined.
Most recently, citizens are upset that the Stokes County School Board has determined that Pine Hall Elementary School in Duke’s district is the first on the slate to be closed, as the over-all county population continues to decline. The school is the first to be closed, yet houses the county’s largest employer. Schools are central to a rural community’s livelihood. Families believe it will be unfair to be bused to schools in other areas. Stokes County demographics are predominantly white at 93.4% in the Pine Hall zip code, the number drops to 86.6%. Neighboring Walnut Cove is 86.0% white. It is disheartening that the highest level of minority citizens in the county are the first to lose their school. However that is in essence an example of environmental injustice and the burdens placed on communities by polluting businesses that make communities undesirable. The estimated population has dropped after the 2014 Dan River Spill and only slightly increased in 2018. Prior to the 2014, very few people knew what coal ash was. We began organizing in Belews Creek in late 2012/early 2013 with Appalachian Voices.
Finally, the loss of Danielle Bailey-Lash, my childhood friend, who lives through this project as my muse, is featured as part of “Under the Skin” by Linda Villarosa. I first became aware of coal ash when Danielle was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010. Many people in my home church was dying of brain tumors and cancers. They were choosing to recreate at Belews Lake. When I became aware of how horrific it was for the neighbors living next to the power plant, I began supporting their stories above all others, including Danielle’s. Our friendship is featured in Chapter 5 called “Where You Lives Matters,” as it looks at the intricacies of environmental racism. Linda and I discuss the book and the loss of Danielle in this online interview prior as part of the book tour here and here.
One of the greatest gifts to come out of this EJ Listening Session would be if Belews Lake itself was cleaned up through remediation, so that we no longer have to worry about our loved ones who continue to recreate there despite our pleas to not spend time at Belews Lake. Perhaps using oysters for remediation, like projects seen in Beuafort, NC. A clean lake would be a huge gift to the community and could lead eventually to the end of the harms we’ve all felt over living for decades in communities of cancer.
US Commission on Civil Rights 2016 Hearing held in Walnut Cove, NC: Examining Health and Environmental Issues Related to Coal Ash Disposal in North Carolina.
Assisted Southeast Regional director in gathering community testimony for public comment, and commissioning broad range of panelists’ testimonies.
Audio of hearing testimony, by panelists, affected residents, community leaders.
Full transcript of 4/7/16 USCCR Hearing, with highlights on urgency of covering healthcare costs.
Publication of research: “Creative Advocacy and Oral History in Issues of Health, Cancers, and Coal Ash Disposal.” U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Federal docket submission on behalf of UNC IRB 15-2371, Breast Cancer Action, NAACP NC. May 2016 (by Marie Garlock, Stokes Collaborators).
With "Oral Histories addendum: Danielle Bailey-Lash, Shuntailya Imani Graves, James and Priscilla Smith"
USCCR's final submission to office of U.S. President U.S. Congress, 2016 federal report: Environmental Justice: Examining the Environmental Protection Agency Compliance and Enforcement of Title VI and E.O. 12,898.
IN-PERSON: Linda Villarosa presents UNDER THE SKIN, with adrienne maree brown and Caroline Armjio
Thank you to Rosemary Plybon for hosting Linda and myself last Friday morning! A little before my coffee had kicked in, but it was a great way to kick off the day!
Also available on the Talk City Greensboro podcast.
Show Details: Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art features an exhibit on water called what other than, H-2-O. It’s all about environmental stewardship, and for a Greensboro woman, it’s personal. Caroline Armijo is an artist and activist and Linda Villarosa is a writer and journalist and we were lucky enough to have a chance for a Zoom interview with them both!
It’s been over a year since we have seen Marie in person. She has been our faithful and fearless collaborator for seven years now. I was reminded of the anniversary of the We Shall Not Be Moved singing at the Walnut Cove Town Council meeting on June 11th, 2015. That was the first time that I met Marie. A great friendship was developed and we are all eternally grateful for her creative and courageous spirit.
This afternoon, I lifted a whole bunch of Marie’s collaborative efforts off of her web site, It Is In You, so that we can begin to recognize all of her great work for the Walnut Cove community.
Plus we were so honored for her baby to meet Danielle last week at the #H2O Exhibit at Greenhill. What a joyful day!
We are planning to invite Marie back to Walnut Cove for a final walking tour blessing and dedication in the near future.
Ken Greenwood, Carter Spalding and Jason Reyes during the greenway planning session at the Walnut Cove Public Library.
Woo hoo! We are one step closer to a greenway in Walnut Cove!
From the Piedmont Triad Regional Commission:
Walnut Cove Greenway Feasibility Study
The Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC) applied for and received State Planning and Research funding from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to assess options for improving bicycle and pedestrian connections between East Walnut Cove Community Park, downtown Walnut Cove, and the Walnut Tree neighborhood.
This study outlines these recommendations and provides additional supporting information about the benefits of these projects, the current conditions, implementation steps, design resources, funding resources, and a summary of the planning process.
This project meets an identified community need by providing a safe walking and biking connection between three key destinations in Walnut Cove. The project will reduce the likelihood of crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians, improve opportunities for outdoor recreation in Stokes County, and provide greater transportation choice for local residents, while enhancing local tourism, economic development, and quality of life. This project is also supported in
NCDOT's Great Trails State Plan.
Public comments on this draft will be accepted through June 23, 2022. Please send comments and questions to:
Carter Spradling
cspradling@ptrc.org
336-904-0300
All updates regarding the Walnut Cove Greenway will be shared here.
It’s the Last Day of School! A newsletter update is my main goal for this week. Then I am dreaming of painting during the lazy days of summer.
After a busy summer last year with installations, everything was pretty dormant until this Spring. Then movement really picked up. For the last two weeks, I have been trying to finish the web site update with a whole bunch of information that I missed sharing before now. I was really hoping to complete more of the coal ash art to install in Walnut Cove, but creative goals have been pushed back to summertime.
I have worked on refreshing the web site and making it a little easier to parse through everything that has taken place since 2018. I simplified the front page and created a page that outlines our main focus areas: Coal Ash Art & Parks | History & Community | Advocacy. You can also keep up to date with our current projects here. I am still working away on the Walking Tour.
Checkout the H2O Exhibit at Greenhill Gallery of North Carolina Art in Greensboro through June 25th. There is a closing on the 25th that is open to the public. It is also open tonight for Greensboro’s First Friday. This is a powerful exhibit of seven different North Carolina artists focused on preserving our water. Will Warasila and I both share stories from the Belews Creek community centered around our advocacy for cleaning up coal ash. If you have been part of this movement, you will likely see your face or hear a familiar voice. It is a must see. I am happy to meet you at the gallery to give you a personal tour.
During our Climate Reality Training in Atlanta in March 2019, Danielle Bailey-Lash and I met with NYT Magazine Writer Linda Villarosa for an interview. When I contacted Linda to share the news of Danielle’s passing, she told me that she wanted to share Danielle’s story in her upcoming book, “Under the Skin.” It is a powerful collection of studies on how racism directly impacts the health of Black Americans. Linda’s first stop on her book tour is in North Carolina: in Chapel Hill at Flyleaf Books on June 15th and in Greensboro at Scuppernong Books on June 16th. Please come pack these stores!
It’s hard to believe that we are on the heels of the anniversary of last year’s Juneteenth Celebration in Walnut Cove. When Dr. Dana Dalton began organizing the event and the documentary on the Walnut Cove Colored School, no one knew Juneteenth was set to become a national holiday. This year celebrate by watching and sharing this remarkable film created by Filmcove. Organizers from Walnut Cove led the nation in refurbishing local Rosenwald Schools. Like the Walnut Cove Colored School, this film is a gift to the community. We also have a collection of long interviews from the film.
Last summer two major installations happened in Walnut Cove! The basketball mural at London Park was installed, along side the completion of the Labyrinth at Cove Square. The labyrinth and basketball court are gorgeous and serve as major anchors to the walking tour in Walnut Cove. Special thank you to Angie Bailey and the Cove Group for being the caretakers of the labyrinth. The Cove Group brings Cove Square to life each week with music in the park.
I am working on pulling all of the information for each site on the web site. It’s still not complete, but I am trying my best to finish by the end of June. If you have stories or information you want to share about each site, please send them to me. The walking tour serves to be a growing collection for the special places around Walnut Cove.
Once we have the art in place and the walking tour complete, we will host a celebration to wrap up The Lilies Project! Plus we plan to host a special event at the basketball courts at London Park in collaboration with Mayor Nellie Brown.
Watch for a draft of the Walnut Cove Greenway Proposal coming in the next week or two. Alta Design spent three days in Walnut Cove talking to people, visiting locations and coming up with a great plan to connect communities into downtown Walnut Cove. Specifically East Walnut Cove/Walnut Tree and Stokesburg. Both will be impacted by the new DOT Roadway projects. We need your feedback to make this a great asset for the town. Walnut Cove is a jewel and having a greenway will really bring everyone together for a great space to walk and bike.
In April, our labyrinth committee shared about labyrinths at the Germanton Elementary Cultural Fair. We had a hand out and information for the participants. Although not enough for everyone with such a huge turn out. Many of the kids recognized the labyrinth from Cove Square and were curious about learning more. We also have a labyrinth at Christ Church, which will be dedicated later this summer and early fall. Vivian Fulk recently completed her training on labyrinths and is working on a study with NIH about using labyrinths as a tool for climate resiliency. We are planning to host a community training in the future as Nathan Wiles catches up on all of his backlog of installations from COVID. Let us know if you are wanting to be more engaged around the labyrinths.
In 2021, The Lilies Project sponsored the training of eight peer-to-peer mentors. Sid Lee is offering a program on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30. Please join the gatherings with this group. Please read more here.
A long time ago, I used to blog a lot. But once I started The Lilies Project, I shifted away from blogging with everything else that I was trying to manage. Keep your eyes out for more posts every once in a while. I am trying to keep up with announcements from The Lilies Project here and some personal stories on this blog.
Best, Caroline
The Lilies Project sponsored training for eight peer-to-peer individuals in hopes of expanding mental health support in the Southeastern Stokes County area.
When we hosted the US Civil Rights Commission at the Walnut Cove Public Library in 2016, one of the recommendations from the panel was to provide mental health support for individuals living in coal ash impacted communities. Facing such a monumental task of just cleaning up the coal ash, I was skeptical that would ever happen. However, Mary Lee started the Sid Lee Mental Health Association after the death of her son Sid by suicide. It was important for our organization to support it’s success. We also sponsored a mural inside of the facility and painting the art room with chalk paint.
Please take advantage of these rich resources that this organization is providing to our community.
Walnut Cove, NC—April 28, 2022, 2022 — The Labyrinth at Cove Square with The Cove Group announces public access, enabling individuals to visit and enjoy the labyrinth free anytime but especially on World Labyrinth Day May 7, 2022, and during Walnut Cove SpringFest by The Cove Group on May 21, 2022, from 10 AM to 3 PM.
World Labyrinth Day is celebrated each year on the first Saturday of May.
Labyrinths are in the form of a circle with a meandering but purposeful path, from the edge to the center and back out again. The path becomes a metaphor for our journey through life. The labyrinth sparks the human imagination. It enlivens the intuitive part of our nature and stirs within the human heart the longing for connectedness and the remembrance of our purpose for living. It is a calming meditation or a lively dance, just as is life.
The Labyrinth at Cove Square is always open to the public located at 455 N. Main Street, Walnut Cove, NC.
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For more information, press only:
Angela Bailey
336-414-1122
CoveGroupInfo@gmail.com
For more information on Springfest and The Labyrinth at Cove Square
For more information on the three Labyrinths sponsored by The Lilies Project
I am so excited to share that Danielle’s story is part of the upcoming book, “Under the Skin” by Linda Villarosa. The book features different chapters of which our friendship is included in one. The book will be released on June 14th by Penguin Random House.
About Under the Skin
In 2018, Linda Villarosa’s New York Times Magazine article on maternal and infant mortality among black mothers and babies in America caused an awakening. Hundreds of studies had previously established a link between racial discrimination and the health of Black Americans, with little progress toward solutions. But Villarosa’s article exposing that a Black woman with a college education is as likely to die or nearly die in childbirth as a white woman with an eighth grade education made racial disparities in health care impossible to ignore.
Now, in Under the Skin, Linda Villarosa lays bare the forces in the American health-care system and in American society that cause Black people to “live sicker and die quicker” compared to their white counterparts. Today’s medical texts and instruments still carry fallacious slavery-era assumptions that Black bodies are fundamentally different from white bodies. Study after study of medical settings show worse treatment and outcomes for Black patients. Black people live in dirtier, more polluted communities due to environmental racism and neglect from all levels of government. And, most powerfully, Villarosa describes the new understanding that coping with the daily scourge of racism ages Black people prematurely. Anchored by unforgettable human stories and offering incontrovertible proof, Under the Skin is dramatic, tragic, and necessary reading.About the Author
LINDA VILLAROSA is a journalism professor at the City University of New York and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine, where she covers the intersection of race and health. She has also served as executive editor at Essence and as a science editor at The New York Times. Her article on maternal and infant mortality was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. She is a contributor to The 1619 Project.
Learn more at LindaVillarosa.com.
Wednesday night, I will be sharing more about the art created for H2O Exhibit at Greenhill Center for NC Art. I am very pleased with how the exhibit turned out. It is an immersive experience with art, collected objects and audio from the community. Will Warasila’s photos are also on display. Will’s MFA Show was cut short because of COVID, so this is a chance to see both of our work together. I’m pleased that at the heart of the installation are photos and audio of the community. The Lilies Project has been a community partnership and I love how strong their presence feels in the show.