NCD980602163_19801230_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Re PCB Disposal-OCR

RUFUS L. EDMISTEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
MEMO TO:
FROM:
RE:
~hrlc of ~ortq <!Iawli1w
,~hpnrhumt llf JJust irr
P. o. Box 629
RALEIGH
27602
30 December 1980
Secretary Burley B. Mitchell, Dave Kelly,
Bob Adams, B:jJ.l...Myer, Page Benton and
Jack Cozor~
W. A. Raney , Jr .I..) ~
Special Deputy Attorney General
PCB Disposal
On December 23, 1980, I received a call from Bob Adams
who stated that a regional official of the Department of
Transportation had been contacted by the county manager from
Warren County concerning activities which had taken place
on the Pope site. The county manager indicated that the
terms of the injunction may have been v iolated.
Bob Adams subsequently informed me that the consultant
had been to the site and had done some survey work and had
placed markers on the site. The survey work was for the pur-
pose of determining the topographical inf ormation necessary
to design the landfill. I communicated this information to
Charles Johnson, attorney for Warren County and asked i f he
would convey it to the county manager. He indicated that the
activity at the site had caused quite a stir in the community
and requested an explanation in writing as well as notifica-
tion before any additional activities were carried out on the
site. I told him I would respond once I had all of the in-
formation necessary.
This memo is to r~quest that any o f you who know about
what has taken place contact me to fill me in so that I may
in turn respond to Warren County. In a ddi tion, I believe it
would be a good idea to comply with Warren County's request
f or prior noti fi cation of activities at the Pope site so that
we do not force them into taking the stance that we are
violating the pre liminary inju: c ticn. The injunction pro-
hibits us f rom
"carrying out any lane'. clearing, grading , or
site preparation activities on the land
(except that any necessary tests to
determine pertinent characteristics
of the land may be conducted) ... "
As you can see the language is not very specific and
could cause problems with activities such as surveys. The
question of whether a survey is a test to determine land
characteristics or whether it is a site preparation activity
is debatable . In the f uture it would probably be wise to
inform Warren County of any activities we plan to undertake .
Another item of concern is a Supplemental Complaint
filed by Warren County alleging that the Final EIS is de-
ficient in certain respects. I have attached a copy of the
supplemental complaint for your revie~. The complaint al-
l eges inadequate design detail as well as inadequate response
to comments submitted by Warren County. The supplemental
complaint will probably be allowed in which case the State
will have a short period of time to file a response . I will
be in touch with you concerning the appropriate course of
action.
I suggest that a copy of this memo be giv~n to the con-
s ultant but that it otherwise be kept confidential as an
attor ney/client communication.
/dw
encl.