Division of Waste Management Accomplishments 2003

DWM 2003 Accomplishments


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Division
PCB Landfill Detoxified

The effort to clean up the landfill created in Warren County to house 81,600 tons of PCB-contaminated roadside soil from illegal dumping is complete. Approximately $17 million was spent to complete the detoxification, which used the thermal desorption method to separate the PCBs from the soil so that they could be destroyed.

Brownfields Program Expands

Demand to redevelop brownfields properties has increased as more developers and cities realize the opportunities to bring economic growth, public health protection, jobs and quality of life benefits to cities and rural areas. With 36 completed brownfield agreements that represent over $500 million in committed private investment and an additional 50 projects pending, the program asked EPA for additional funds so that they could keep up with demand. The program received $1 million in cooperative agreement funding from the U.S. EPA for additional staff and regional staff placement in 2004.

Safety Program

Safety positions were moved to the division level to heighten safety awareness. The safety committee was reorganized to align division efforts with new department goals and increase participation among staff. Office safety training classes were created and administered to staff.

Environmental Education

A nonpoint source pollution exercise was created, certified and posted on the Web site for teachers to use with grades 4-8. Made 14 presentations, 11 of them in school settings, allowing over a thousand students access to the environmental education courses. Topics range from hazardous waste and the Superfund program to leaking underground storage tanks, groundwater contamination and non-point source pollution

Public Participation

The Waste Management Division has made a commitment to meet and – where possible – exceed the levels of public involvement required by statute. Action steps include pursuing free media sources (public service announcements and/or newspaper community calendars) to increase the media exposure of public meetings and hearings. The Web site URL was changed to one that is easier to remember (wastenotnc.org) in an effort to bring more of the public to the Web site. Staff training to improve public involvement skills will be explored and administered as budgets allow. To date, three staff have attended workshops to improve skills.

Superfund

Junkyards- Four junkyards were purchased in the state’s effort to reduce the threat of potential hazardous waste contamination in the event of a flood. All junkyards were located in the Kinston area and were located in the 100-year floodplain.

Bone Farm Pesticide Site, located in Nashville, N.C. is now clean. Pesticide-contaminated soils located on the church property no longer represent a threat to human health or the environment. Because this was an orphan site, with no responsible party funds available, the state used its own funds to clean up this site.

Lead Contaminated Soils – "Battery cracking," or breaking open old batteries to salvage components for resale, was once a popular sideline business in rural North Carolina. However, the once-popular practice left a legacy of lead-contaminated soils at the sites of old operations. Two cleanups are scheduled to be complete by year’s end - Cartrette Field, located in Chadbourne, Columbus County and the Mary Circle Battery site, located in Concord, Cabarrus County.

Manufactured Gas Plants – An old Fayetteville facility had soil contamination from previous MGP operations. The current owners cleaned the soil under Superfund oversight so that the property will be redeveloped and put back to use.

The Governor signed a concurrence letter for the Findings of Suitability for Early Transfer for the Tarheel Army Missile Plant located in Burlington. Reassigning military sites to communities is a difficult task, but years of persistent negotiation paid off and made this transfer possible.

The Federal Remediation Branch completed its first Five-Year Review for EPA on the ABC One Hour Cleaners site located in Jacksonville.

The Secretary of Navy awarded the Environmental Restoration Award and the Environmental Quality Award for Industrial Installations-Marine Corps Category - to Cherry Point. Superfund works in partnership with the facility’s staff on environmental matters.

Camp Lejeune initiated a $5 million soil remediation system at one of its sites. The soil is being cleaned using electrical resistance heating. This use of a new and innovative technology may prevent more disruptive contamination cleanup measures from being used at the site.

David Lown was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the Department of Defense for leadership and commitment to the environmental program at military installations in North Carolina.

Drycleaners

DENR’s dry cleaning program offers the business community limited liability in return for adherence to minimum management practices. Because the bulk of drycleaning stores are true "mom and pop" operations, the benefit to small business is clear. Prospective drycleaners once feared open-ended liability if they were lucky enough to find a place that would rent them space. The business climate in this industry has changed significantly as a result of this DENR program.

Brownfields Program Expands

Demand to redevelop brownfields properties has increased as more developers and cities realize the opportunities to bring economic growth, public health protection, jobs and quality of life benefits to cities and rural areas. With 36 completed brownfield agreements that represent over $500 million in committed private investment and an additional 50 projects pending, the program asked EPA for additional funds so that they could keep up with demand. The program received $1 million in cooperative agreement funding from the U.S. EPA for additional staff and regional staff placement in 2004.

Solid Waste Section

Compliance/Enforcement

Program improvements led to increased enforcement with 12 compliance orders issued in 2003 compared to eight in 2002 and two in 2001. A preliminary injunction was also issued in 2003. Septage inspections increased to 1,450 in 2003 compared to 951 in 2002.

The Land Application and Composting Branch was reorganized to provide one-stop, comprehensive statewide septage regulation. The branch now inspections and conducts compliance/enforcement activities at all types of septage management facilities.

The Violation Evaluation Team was created to integrate DENR’s "Truth in Penalties Implementation Plan" into the Solid Waste Section’s compliance/enforcement process.

The changes increased the division’s ability to track enforcement trends.

Permitting

Draft rules for Construction and Demolition Landfills were finalized after two years of development. Public meetings are scheduled state wide to solicit public comments.

Disaster Assistance

Ice Storms – Approved, activated and placed the locations of debris staging sites for 2 significant ice storms on the Web site. The knowledge accelerated cleanup and helped governments and other state agencies receive FEMA reimbursements. Staff coordinated efforts with federal, state and local agencies and answered citizen, vendor and governmental agency questions by telephone and e-mail.

Hurricane Isabel - Staff worked with local governments before the storm to ensure leachate storage capacity and contingency plans for post-storm activity at landfills.

Staff approved and activated 210 debris staging sites and placed their locations on the Web site for broadest dissemination. Staff assisted local governments and others with data needed for FEMA reimbursement at the Emergency Operations Center and at other meetings. Household hazardous waste collection sites were established at nine locations throughout the disaster area; over 57,000 pounds were collected at the events.

Technical Assistance & Education

Administered training for transfer station owner/operators in cooperation with the N.C. Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America. Four training sessions have been held and the percentage of facilities with trained operators is approaching 100 percent.

To increase compliance in the septage sector, nine training sessions were conducted for operators of septage firms and land applications sites. And additional five training sessions were held exclusively for septage firm operators.

Planning

North Carolina’s 10 Year Solid Waste Management Plan was completed. The plan describes options to meet the challenges posed by the ever-increasing amount of solid waste that North Carolina generates. Developed over a two-year period with extensive "bottom-up" public participation, the plan identifies five goals and suggests strategies to achieve them. These goals include: improving landfill technology, increasing the amount of material recycled and composted to reduced the amount of waste landfilled, reducing litter and illegal disposal, increasing public participation when making solid waste decisions and developing landfill capacity.

UST

By revising its Reasonable Rate Policy periodically, the section stays current on market practices and research. The last revision resulted in reduced assessment and cleanup costs. The savings benefits tank owners and operators.

Proposed legislation to decrease cleanup costs by mandating cost-effective cleanup methods. The legislation from Session Law 2003-352 passed.

In cooperation with the state’s Attorney General’s office and DENR, some UST consultants were charged with bid rigging and lab kickback schemes. The case sent a signal to the environmental service industry that controlling UST program costs and prosecuting fraud would be vigorously pursued to protect the program and those who depend upon it.

Financial Responsibility Workshops were held statewide to educate to tank owners about their statutory duties regarding financial mechanisms. The goal is to reduce the number of leaking UST claims to the state Trust Fund.

Hazardous Waste Section

To improve compliance in the state’s small quantity generator community, all SQGs received a self-assessment checklist with their annual fee invoice. This "self certification" offers technical assistance designed to reduce or avoid future costs associated with non-compliance and cleanup activities.

Staff conducted annual workshops statewide for large quantity generators. Updating the sector on legislative and regulatory changes, allows the regulated community to request technical assistance as they adapt operations to meet changing regulations. The increase in compliance benefits human health and the environment while reducing the number of penalties levied for non-compliance.

The section issued 29 Compliance Orders and two Administrative Orders on Consent for 2003.

Government Performance Results Act – The section achieved two significant goals at high priority facilities in need of corrective action for soil and/or groundwater contamination. The EPA Environmental Indicator goals for Human Exposure Controlled were met at the USMC Cherry Point, Clarient East, Chemtronics, FMC and Veeder Root facilities. Groundwater Migration Controlled goals were met at DSM Pharmaceuticals, Chemical Specialties, Inc., Veeder Root, Clarient East and FMC.

By providing prompt technical assistance to Ecusta, a large manufacturing facility in bankruptcy, the prospect of environmental hazards posed by the shutdown of environmental controls was averted. Staff members assisted plant staff with a large inventory of waste to determine what management practices were needed to maintain the plant’s future operability.

Responded to the West Pharmaceuticals fire by providing technical assistance to the cleanup contractor for the management and disposal of hazardous waste.

A claim for injunctive relief was granted by the courts to cease current and future activities at Shackleford Tank Removal, an underground storage tank removal and disposal company operating near Maury in Greene County. DENR pursued the claim because the company had been unresponsive to previous requests to clean up contamination caused by the improper disposal of wastes.