Division
Warren County PCB Landfill
The landfill was constructed in the early ‘80s to hold soils contaminated by illegally dumped PCBs. Fierce community
opposition led Governor Hunt to commit to its detoxification in 1982. In 2000, an innovative state contract was used to
obtain a final design for the detoxification project. Because the state legislature required matching federal funds
before releasing $7M for cleanup purposes, staff worked with EPA to meet this mandate. Staff obtained a fee
reduction on the detoxification technology and a donation of technical and analytical services that satisfied the
requirement. A contractor will be announced for cleanup early in 2001, but an oversight contractor and air monitoring
services have already been obtained. Outreach efforts included the launch of a newsletter, a forum for local
contractors who wish to work on the project and the creation of resource guide for project contractors wishing to hire
them.
Hazardous Waste
Hurricane Floyd Clean-up
Staff worked quickly to assess affected hazardous waste handlers. Several household hazardous waste collections were held in a number of counties to collect these items, which diverted them from landfills. Technical assistance is still being offered to companies and citizens with hurricane-related hazardous waste situations. Staff is also helping with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "snag and drag" program, which clears debris, including hazardous waste containers, left in waterways by hurricane flooding.
Emergency Response
Assisted the Town of Farmville when a business abandoned its premises and a quantity of hydrofluoric acid waste. When buried explosives were located in two other locations across the state, the staff assessed and coordinated the clean up of the sites.
Education
Staff held three Large Quantity Generator workshops in May, and six Small Quantity Generator
workshops throughout the year to provide companies updated technical and regulatory information.
These workshops and presentations provide valuable compliance assistance to the participating
companies. Proactive approaches by the Resident Inspector Program, such as Roundtable
workshops with commercial facilities, program oversight and additional compliance assistance
efforts, have clearly demonstrated a heightened level of compliance at commercial hazardous waste
facilities. Staff also visited elementary schools to make presentations on a variety of age-appropriate
environmental topics.
Superfund
Brownfields
Old, contaminated properties are often abandoned because clean-ups are expensive and the risk of legal liability is high. To encourage the re-use of these abandoned properties, the N. C. Brownfields Program shields companies that agree to clean-up contaminated sites from liability. Once participating companies agree to use the properties in ways that reduce or eliminate any remaining hazards, banks will then lend the funds necessary to rejuvenate those properties, which are often located in inner cities.
The Superfund Section completed six agreements in 2000, which led to roughly $55 million in investment. Reusing abandoned properties can create jobs in economically challenged city centers and raise municipal tax revenues.
Drycleaners
The Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Act, which passed in 1997, became operational in July after legislative amendments. The act uses tax collected on drycleaning solvents to create a fund that can be used for assessment and cleanups. To be eligible, drycleaners must comply with management practices that prevent future solvent releases and pay a deductible.
Manufactured Gas Plant Clean Ups
Before the 1950s, most North Carolinas towns used coal to light and heat their residents. Unfortunately, this old technology created coal tar, a toxic by-product that was usually left behind at closed sites. Knowing there were 27 locations that needed cleaning, the Superfund staff negotiated a single agreement with the owners of the abandoned sites. The agreement lets the owners pay for additional staff, so the clean up will occur more quickly. This agreement is being studied by a number of other states and may be used as a model for other clean ups.
National Priority Site Cleanup
Instead of the EPA, the Superfund section assumed lead agency oversight for cleaning up the Gresham's Lake national priority site. The parties responsible for the contamination provided cleanup funds. The staff performing day-to-day monitoring of all cleanup activities are employed under state contract and supervised by the Super Fund staff.
In pursuing funding from responsible parties, the Superfund staff have created a model that results in accelerated cleanups that does not use additional state resources. Other states are watching closely to determine if this effective and efficient method is appropriate for cleaning up their contaminated sites.
Underground Storage Tank
Hurricane Floyd Clean-up
Staff worked quickly after the flooding to detect and clean up any leaking underground storage tanks. Out of the 66 locations found leaking, 45 have already been cleaned up.
Underground Storage Tanks
When tanks leak, they can pollute nearby groundwater and the drinking wells that tap into them.
Since UST's cleanup and reimbursement program began in 1988, the number of sites reported
(including those inherited from an earlier program) totaled 15,219. So far, 5,765 sites have already
been cleaned. Currently, the UST Section regulates 90,339 closed and active tanks, plus over 100,000 heating oil tanks. This number of tanks puts North Carolina is in the top 10 for the nation. Because each tank represent a potential risk to the environment and public health, this program's work is essential to
North Carolina's citizens and environment.
Solid Waste
Landfills
Staff created the Comprehensive Landfill Audit Team to increase the thoroughness and consistency of their landfill inspections. Composed of engineers, hydrogeologists, waste management specialists and safety specialists, CLAT augments the traditional inspection by incorporating a number of professional viewpoints. CLATs goal is to improve the level of compliance by North Carolina landfill operators.
To increase compliance at solid waste facilities, the law requires their operators to attend training courses approved by the section. The course recently approved for municipal solid waste and construction and demolition landfill operators makes having a trained operator on site at all times required. The goal of the course is to promote safety and environmental compliance, increase the life of current landfills and to divert materials that do not belong in these facilities.
Solid Waste Management Plan
The law requires that a 10 year solid waste management plan be written every three years. The section changed the process by which this plan is developed and dramatically increased public participation in this project. By reaching out to communities across the state, the section created public participation panels that were as diverse as the citizens of North Carolina. Citizens' thoughts and concerns formed the basis for the plan's first draft. The first draft was also reviewed and additional comments were solicited, which will be included in the presentation to the General Assembly. This "bottom-up" planning method was so successful it has been adopted on a permanent basis.
White Goods Disposal
After they were banned from municipal landfills, stores of white goods (appliances such as refrigerators or water heaters) became burdensome to the counties required to dispose of them. To address this problem, an Advance Disposal Fee was levied by the General Assembly on all large appliances sold in North Carolina through June 2000. Due to the program's success, the General Assembly has taken the "sunset provision" off this fee, which will now become permanent.
Floyd Cleanup
The immense quantity of downed trees, construction materials and other debris made standard shipping to regular facilities impossible. To increase the speed of removal, staff worked with local communities to choose "staging locations". These locations kept citizens and contractors from traveling long distances to regular disposal sites. Debris was first collected locally, then sent to traditional facilities later.
Staff also worked tirelessly to permit additional capacity in existing landfills so that hurricane debris could be disposed rapidly and in accordance with regulations. Technical assistance was also provided to a variety of communities needing emergency consultations on waste management.
