Deadline to Submit Comments on Optima TH Biogas Facility in Tar Heel, Bladen Co.!
Sunday, April 4, 2021

If approved, the Optima TH facility will further entrench North Carolina in dirty energy programs that continue to pollute our drinking water and the air we breathe. While industry giants, including Smithfield Foods and Duke Energy, tout this process as a green energy solution, this “waste-to-energy” industry falls short of more sustainable options like solar power and wind power. The Smithfield Foods/Optima TH biogas project does nothing to address the legacy of environmental and community health concerns created by the hog industry, and would emit 24,500 to 40,800 tons of greenhouse gases each year.

Tell the Division of Air Quality to DENY Optima TH’s draft air permit! Biogas is not a clean energy solution for NC.

The public notice, draft permit, draft permit review, and environmental justice draft report can be found here.

Written comments may also be submitted during the public comment period via email at the following address: daq.publiccomments@ncdenr.gov. Please type “Optima .20A” in the subject line. Comments must be postmarked no later than April 4, 2021.