NCD980602163_19820804_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Draft letter to Alamance News re Dr Danieley's printed comments on PCBS-OCR

, .. DRAFT
To The Editor: 8/4/82
I read with interest Dr. J. F.arl Danieley's comments about North
carolina's PCB problem in the June 17 addition of the Alarrance News. I woµld
like to respond to several of the statements your paper attributed to Dr.
Danieley that may have mislead your readers.
First of all, let me emphasize that the stp.te's decision to pick up
PCB contaminated soil along 210 miles of North carolina highways was not a
political decision, as Dr. Danieley stated, but an environmental and public I
health decision. It was made after lengthy deliberations with the Environmental
Protection Agency during which other methods of handl ing the PCB contaminated
soil were discussed.
As a tertiporary measure, the state treated the PCB with activated
charcoal and liquid asphalt to tightly bond the chemical to the soil and to
prevent erosion. This approach was viewed as only a temporary solution to
the problem because the soil along the roadsides stil l would be subject to the
elements, and some migration would be expected to occur through erosion over
a long period of time. In addition, the state would not be able to routinely
maintain the shoulders of the roads where the PCB was dumped because any
maintenance work would scatter the contaminated soil. Monitoring along 210
miles of highway would be extrerrely difficult.
The state approached the EPA with a plan to treat the PCB in place
a
by using{natural decomposition process to break the chemical down over a
period o( years. This approach was turned down by the EPA, which supported
the rerrovf<l of the soil to a federally approved landfill designed to handle
and monitor PCB as the only practical peD11anent solution. The agency recently
approved a federal "Superfund" allocation of $2.8 million so that this could
be accomplished.
"
Let rre }?Oint out that soil samples taken by the state since the dumping
occurred indicate that the PCB still remains along i±he spill areas in about
. ~ the sarre concentrations originally recoArded when the dumping was discovered • .._,, '~ ..
The PCB has not been tilled into the soil as Dr. Dartieley said in your article.
Only two small test plots used to demonstrate the state's in-place treatment
method were tilled,lirred; seeded with grass and fertilized. The EPA, as I
mentioned earlier, was not convinced that this method would work effectively,
and denied the state's request to treat the PCB in place.
Dr. Danieley certainly is correct in his staterrent that PCB "is all
around us". That is one of the major reasons that -tj:he use, handling and dis}?Osal
of the chemical are so closely regulated today. PCB is an extrerrely stable and
pervasive chemical that is not easily eliminated fr0m our environrrent. The
widespread use (and lack of control) of PCB in the past has resulted in the
accUITR1lation of the substance in our food chain, and has placed a health
burden on all of us. Just recently, for example, hi gh levels of PCB were
recorded in mother's milk in several areas of the cd>untry.
If we choose to ignore the PCB that was d~d along North carolina's
roadsides, we may be adding an additional and unnecessary health burden to
North Carolinians who live and work in areas around the contaminated stretches
of road. How much of a burden we are not sure. There are many questions still
be be answered about the effects of PCB on our health.
Until more definitive information becorres available, it is the state's
res}?Onsibility to protect the health and welfare of all North carolinians based_
on the facts already available to us. In the case of the PCB spill, a res}?Ons.ihle
decision has been made to remove the chemical so that no long-term threat to
public health will exist.
Sincerely,
PCB "Not At All Dangerous" "Not at all dangerous," is August." the way Dr. J. Earl Dr. Danieley, former Elon Danieley, a professor of College presi~ent who chemistry at Elon College, returned to the classroom by
termed the PCB toxic his own choice, is also a
chemical on several former Alamance County
Alamance County roads. Commissioner.
"· "The decision to move the "After the dirt Vt'aS tilled,"
PCB dirt was a political one, Dr. Danieley ,aid, "the
and not one related to safety . percentage of ~FJ3 in the soil
reasons," continued Dr. was not enougn 1to rate an
Danieley. 'unsafe evaluation' from the
The PCB, which was il-Environmental Protection
legally dumped on the Agency."
DR. J. EARL DANIELEY , shoulders of several "In addition td that fact,"
Professor Of Chemis.try Alamance County roads, has Dr. Danieley conpnued, "the
.~J been tilled into the soil. chemical, PCB, is all around
However, Sam Jones, us ... It has !ken used to
district engineer for the make transformers for elec-
State Department of Trans-tric poles, and in sealed
portation, said, "the State is refrigerators .. , . has been
going ahead with plans for used in ink . . . as a
removing it the latter part of plasticizer and in the
manufacture of upholstery
covering." .
"People sit on it," he ex-
plained, "and after the
upholstered furniture ends up in the dump the upholstery rots, but the PCB stays." · He continued, "we're sur-
rounded with it. To spend all
that money to move that lit-
tle bit is folly . . . as ma:ny
real needs as we have;"
Nevertheless, Jones said,
moving plans will begin as
soon as the Warren County
land fill where the PCB is go-
ing is completed in late July.
The area of dirt scheduled to
be removed is 2½ feet wide
by 3 inches deep, Jones said.
When asked if the soft
shoulder created when the
dirt is replaced would not
create as much hazard as
the PCB, Jones said, "the
shoulders will be
reconstructed in a safe man-
ner. They'll be rolled out so
they won't be dangerously
soft."