* The Warren County PCB Landfill was constructed in 1982 to contain soil that was contaminated by the illegal spraying of oil containing PCBs from over 210 miles of highway shoulders. Over 30,000 gallons of contaminated oil were illegally sprayed along roadsides in 14 North Carolina counties. * The landfill was located on a 142-acre tract of land on the east side of SR 1604, approximately 1.5 to 2.0 miles from the intersection of SR 1604 and US 401. The location is three miles south of Warrenton. The state owns approximately 19 acres of the tract and Warren County owns the remaining acreage surrounding the state’s property. The containment area of the landfill cell occupied approximate 3.8 acres that was enclosed by a fence. The landfill surface dimension was approximately 300’ x 550’ with a depth of approximately 25’ of contaminated soil at the center. The county property is undeveloped and the adjacent land is either undeveloped or used for agricultural purposes. * EPA permitted the landfill under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The landfill contained approximately 40,000 cubic yards (equivalent to approximately 60,000 tons) of contaminated soil. The landfill was equipped with both PVC and clay caps and liners. It also had a dual leachate collection system. The material in the landfill was solely from the contaminated roadsides. The landfill was never operated as a commercial facility. * The site is located in the Shocco Township of the county. The population is approximately 1,300. Sixty-nine percent of the township residents are nonwhite and 20 percent of the residents have incomes below the federal poverty level. Warren County is an economically-depressed community and has been designated as a Tier I county for economic development. * Residents of Warren County and civil rights leaders vehemently protested the location of the landfill in Warren County. These protests are considered the "watershed event" which brought "environmental justice" to the national level. * Environmental justice recognizes the concern that minority populations and/or low-income populations have borne a disproportionate amount of potential adverse health and environmental effects. EJ calls for the "fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." * In 1982 during the construction of the landfill, then-Governor Jim Hunt made a commitment to the people of Warren County. He stated that if appropriate and feasible technology became available, the state would explore detoxification of the landfill. * In 1994, a Working Group, consisting of members of the community and representatives from the state, began an in-depth assessment of the landfill and a study of the feasibility of detoxification. Tests using landfill soil and several treatment technologies were conducted. In 1998, the working group selected base catalyzed decomposition (BCD) as the most appropriate technology. Approximately $1.6 million in state funds had been spent by this time. In 1999, the Working Group fulfilled its mission and was re-formed into a community advisory board. *In the BCD process, PCBs are separated from the soil using thermal desorption. Once separated, the PCBs are collected as a liquid for treatment by the BCD process. BCD is a non-incineration, chemical dechlorination process that transforms PCBs, dioxins and furans into non-toxic compounds. In the process, chlorine atoms are chemically removed from the PCB and dioxin/furan molecules and replaced with hydrogen atoms. This converts the compounds to biphenyls, which are non-hazardous. Treated soil is returned to the landfill and the organics from the BCD process are recycled as a fuel or disposed off site as non-hazardous waste. * A cleanup goal of 200 parts per billion (ppb) was established by the working group for the landfill site and was made a statutory requirement by the N.C. General Assembly. EPA cleanup levels for high occupancy usage is 1 part per million (ppm). EPA's examples of high occupancy areas include residences, schools and day care centers. The statutory requirement is five times lower than the EPA requirement. The removal of PCBs from the soil will eliminate further regulation of the site and permit unrestricted future use. * In 1999 the General Assembly appropriated $1 million and reserved an additional $7 million to be released if matching federal funds could be found. The EPA pledged in-kind services, which were considered a "match." This enabled the project to move forward. * Earth Tech, an environmental engineering firm, was hired in November of 2000 to serve as an oversight contractor. * A public bid opening was held on December 22, 2000 for the site detoxification contract. The IT Group, with a bid of $13.5 million, was the low bidder. Existing funds were sufficient to fund Phase I. A contract was entered into with The IT Group and a notice to proceed was issued on March 12, 2001. * Site preparation work was completed in December 2001. Work included the construction of concrete pads and a steel shelter for the processing area, the extension of county water, an upgrade of electrical utilities and the establishment of sediment and erosion control measures. * The Shaw Group purchased the IT Group in May 2002. IT personnel involved with the project became Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure employees. * Fabrication and modification equipment continued to arrive through April of 2002. The treatment equipment was delivered in May 2002. An open house was held onsite the next month so community members could view the site and equipment before startup. Initial tests with contaminated soil started at the end of August 2002. The EPA demonstration test was performed in January of 2003. An interim operations permit was granted in March based on the demonstration test results. * Soil treatment was completed in October of 2003. A total of 81,600 tons of material was treated from the landfill site. The treated materials included the original contaminated roadside soil and soil adjacent to the roadside material in the landfill that had been cross-contaminated. * The original plan specified using the BCD process to destroy the PCBs after thermal desorption separated them from the soil. With only limited data available to estimate the quantity of liquid PCBs that would be collected, conservative estimates were used to design the BCD reactor. In practice, the quantity of PCBs recovered as liquid was much less than anticipated. The BCD reactor tanks were too large to be used for the three-run demonstration test required under TSCA to approve the BCD process. As an alternative, one tank load of liquid containing PCBs was shipped to an EPA permitted facility for destruction by incineration. * Most of the equipment was decontaminated and demobilized from the site by the end of 2003. Site restoration will be complete in the spring once vegatation is established. The total cost of the project, from the establishment of the Working Group in 1994 to completion, was $17.1 million. * A final open house will be held on the site in the spring of 2004. NCDENR -  Division of Waste Management - 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646 - (919) 508-8400 E-mail Us