To the Editor:

As a resident of Beaufort County, I was dismayed to learn from the recently released national Toxic Release Inventory that the air in this county is the sixth-most polluted in North Carolina (1,949,921 pounds in 2010). Our Legislature’s Environmental Review Commission met recently and suggested it would dismantle our state’s air-toxins regulations in the spring, clearing the way for much more air pollution in the future.

Why would our legislators want to repeal rules that protect the residents of our state and Beaufort County from cancer, birth defects, respiratory illness and heart attacks? Is it to make us more attractive to prospective businesses? Our state has rated in the top three for business attractiveness for the past decade. Isn’t that enough? Do we have to cater to each and every belching smokestack?

Sen. White and Rep. Cook, please do what you can to make us healthy and safe: ask questions, talk to your colleagues in Raleigh and listen to the medical community.

MACK SIMPSON
Bath