NCD980602163_19820118_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Durham Morning Herald clipping-OCR

I ,/ ;' I";•.( 2.
,· I ,
Warren Board
Seeks Answers
About Landfill
By JACK HOLMES
Benld Staff Writer
· WARRENTON -The Warren County commissioners have asked state
officials to answer some questions that persist about conditions at the contro-
versial PCB landfill at Afton.
sion at the landfill and sho'wing the
bulge in the plastic liner caused by gas
from decomposing vegetation. Sledding
In N.C.
· Opposition to the landfill, including a
long-running series of demonstrations
and marches aimed at blocking trucks
delivering the toxic substance to the
landfill, failed to halt its use. But War-
ten County citizens and officials alike
are keeping a close watch on the landfill
and the state's monitoring of it.
Phillips said the problems are nothinf)
crucial and said that steps already have
been taken to control the erosion at the
landfill-planting of additional rye I
grass and application of more straw /
mulch-until it can be better stabilized ,
this spring when additional vegetation j
can be cultivated and the sloping imn proved. !
These Avery County .
children have a good
time sledding after a
weekend storm left
over 4 inches of snow
in North Carolina's
northwest mountains.
.Cold temperatures are
keeping the snow
THEW ARREN COUNTY commis-
sioners raised five points, most of which
have been raised before, in a letter to
William W. Phillips of the N:C. Depart-
ment of Crime Control and Public Safety. , · .
Phillips, a special assistant in the de-
partment, said Monday he received the
letter Friday and hasn't had time to re-
spond to it yet.
However, he said he will respond as
soon as possible. He said the questions
all have been covered before, noting that
the commissioners raised them again
now because of concerns of a delegation
of 75 citizens who attended a special
county commissioners' meeting on Jan.
6.
He also said that recent tests indicated /
the gases being generated in the landfill 1 '
comes from rotting vegetation. He said it 1
is methane gas and poses no danger. __.i
IN ADDITION to questions about the around so the
gas and erosion, the letter from the com-youngsters are getting
missioners also asked whether the land-use out of their
fill was designed and built to safely con-sledding equipment.
tain the PCB and what effect the gas and (AP Laserphoto) erosion would have on its integrity. , . .
. The commissioners also questioned V · , B d
the effect of the gas on the integrity of a. an ce Oar plastic liner over the landfill. · . -
Phillips said the bubbles in the liner /.'?i
just burst and the liner will be patched , , · · :::o~~~ thre_e ~reas where the bubbl~_sJ ·Pr·, n c,· pal At N
Both Ph1lhps and Warren County
Manager Glen Newsome said that a re• '
cent series of tests on monitoring wells HENDERSON -At a special meeting Dr. F
and two streams to check the quality of Monday night, the Vance County Board school:
water in the landfill area showed no sig-df Education appointed Ralph Clifton . fundin
nificant amounts of PCB in the water. Glover principal of New Hope Elemen-said tt But, Phillips said, "I don't blame the
commissioners." He said they are ques-
tions he would raise, too. LESS THAN ONE PART per billion
was found in the wells and less than one
THE GROUP showed the commission-part per million in Rich Neck Creek and
f its tributary.
tary School. · . $35,000
He will succeed Mrs. Helen Elliott, months
who resigned to accept a principal'.s job .. Lewi
in Durham County. · c1als t
Glover has taught in Vance County for penses
the past 20 years and more recently has • Ac•
been a sixth-grade teacher at Yancey Carol '
Elementary School. He is a graduate of teache1
the former Henderson Institute High the cor
School and holds a bachelor's degree dale to
from Elizabeth State University and a • Hil
master's degree in administration from tham •
ers slides depicting the problems <> . ero-Phillips pointed out that the amounts
• . are insignificant and certainly didn't
House Destroyed By Fire . come from the landfill. He noted that some PCB has been in the environment
for 40 years and the Environmental Pro-HENDERSON ~ A six-room frame tection Agency doesn't consider PCB as
house at 620 Corbitt Road occupied by significant unless it exceeds 50 ~arts per the family of Bobby A. Stevenson was million.
destroyed by fire early Monday morn• The PCB-polychorinated biphenyls
ing. . -was dumped along more than 200
The family escaped without injury. miles of N.C. roads in 1978. Soil contain-
Firemen said they believe the fire ing the chemical was scrapped up by the ·
started from flames escaping from the state Department of Transportation and
fireplace chimney into thet"'alls. ·•: ·· ~< --~ ~eposi~ed in the landfill last year.
N.C. A&T State University. Elemer
Glover, 44, is married and the father • Wa
of two children. nasiun
In other business, the board: tary Sc
• Discussed the state's demand for a gested
2+percent cut in spending of state funds that, w in Vance County. . 15.000.