VinFast, NCDOT seek federal approval for impacts to streams and wetlands at Chatham County site
A nonprofit is fighting plans for Vietnamese automaker VinFast’s factory in Chatham County because of potential harm to waterways.
VinFast and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are trying to get federal approval for plans that would permanently impact nearby waterways. The 284-page permit application is under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“Overall, the anticipated effects of the proposed project would be moderate relative to similar types of projects in the region, and taken alone, do not present a significant or imminent threat to the stability and integrity of the aquatic ecosystem within the watershed,” the permit application states.
The application also states, “Overall, the anticipated effects of the proposed project would be moderate."
The automaker is planning to build an almost 2,000-acre plant in Moncure to build electric crossover vehicles along with the batteries to power them.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers division chief Tommy Fennel discussed how the permit application will get reviewed.
“We’re able to holistically review the project and make sure that not just impacts to wetlands but also the human environment, adjacent property owners, aquatic environment and the effects of the entire project are looked at, at once,” Fennel said.
Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton worries the water quality will only get worse as the company starts construction and the state builds roads into the site.
“That entire area of our watershed, which is already inundated with a lot of industrial development, would be further degraded without the ability to heal itself,” Sutton said.
Sutton’s job is to document the health of the water in the Haw River.
“The water is the color of chocolate milk,” Sutton said.
Sutton wants VinFast’s permit application denied.
“Once the streambed is inundated with sediment and that habitat is lost, we can’t get that life back,” Sutton said.
WRAL News asked NCDOT what steps it would take to minimize and mitigate impacts on waterways and wetlands.
“At NCDOT, we always work to identify the path that has the fewest impacts on people, properties and the environment, but in some cases this is unavoidable,” NCDOT Assistant Director of Communications Aaron Moody wrote in an email to WRAL News. “Decisions are made balancing criteria such as safety, impacts to the natural and human environment, costs, and traffic service.
“The Department takes steps to mitigate project impacts in compliance with state and federal requirements.”
VinFast’s site will cover more than 33,000 feet of streams and 99 acres of wetlands. The project would permanently impact 3,700 feet of streams and 23 acres of wetlands, according to the permit.
“This is our chance to make this development more sustainable,” Sutton said.
VinFast is offering to buy what are called "mitigation credits" from the state. Those credits pay for stream and watershed improvements elsewhere to offset damage at the site.
On Thursday, VinFast acknowledged streams and wetlands would be impacted regardless of which company occupied the site.
"Impacts to streams and wetlands within the VinFast property have been largely avoided by the careful layout and design of the manufacturing facilities and locating them within upland areas of the property," a VinFast representative wrote in an email to WRAL News.
The representative said VinFast, NCDOT and the Army Corps of Engineers are considering all possible mitigation efforts.
"The only impacts within the VinFast property are limited to perpendicular roadway crossings that are necessary to provide safe and efficient access within the Site and from the manufacturing facility to the roadway improvements," the representative wrote.
VinFast is working with the Department of Environmental Quality and other area leaders on the permitting process, the representative said.
Moody said right-of-way acquisition and construction on the first phase of the project could begin as soon as spring 2023.
