NCD980602163_19820915_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Herman R. Clark's Letter to Residents of Warren Co-OCR

James 8 . Hunt, Jr., Governor
North Carolina Department of
Crime Control~~
& Public Safety_
P.O. Box 27687 512 N. Salisbury Street Raleigh 27611 [phone]
Heman R. Clark, Secretary
September 15, 1982
Dear Residents of Warren County:
As the state begins to move the PCB contaminated soil off our roadsides to a
specially designed landfill in Warren County, I know that many of you are very
concerned about the effects the landfill will have on the county and its residents.
Many of your concerns, I believe, are based on incomplete, misinformed or
misinterpreted information about the landfill. I would like to try to respond to
several specific questions that have been raised time and time again by the
citizens of Warren County.
1. WILL THE PCB LANDFILL NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN WARREN COUNTY BE USED
FOR THE STORAGE OF OTHER HAZARDOUS WASTES NOW OR AT A LATER DATE?
The answer is no, absolutely not. · The PCB landfi ll, with a maximum capacity
of 40,000 cubic yards, is designed to handle only the PCB contaminated soil in 14
North Carolina counties. This soil was contaminated with PCB laced transformer oil
illegally dumped along more than 200 miles of rural roads during the summer of 1978.
More than 20 miles of these roads are located in Warren C~unty.
Once the contaminated soil is put into the landfill, the facility will be capped
with artificial and clay liners, and monitored regularly 'lj:o guarantee that the facility
poses no threat to any of the citizens of Warren County. It should be emphasized that
only the PCB laced soil from the 1978 spill will go into the landfill. Removal of
the cap once it is in place so that additional soil or other materials can be placed
into the landfill is explicity prohibited by federal law.
2. WHO WILL MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE LANDFILL AND SURROUNDING PROPERTY AFTER
THE PCB PROJECT IS COMPLETED?
The state of North Carolina will maintain control of the five-acre landfill
and about 15 acres that surround the facility which contain several monitoring wells.
The remaining 120 acres of land,which make up a buffer zone around the site)have been
deeded by the state to Warren County to guarantee to the people of the county that the
acreage will not be used for any other type waste facility.
It should be pointed out that, in deeding the properby to the county, the state
'placed several restrictions in the deed to prohibit the buffer zone from being used
by the county for almost any purpose that would involve human activity (the construction
of schools or recreation facilities, for instance). Plainly speaking, the county owns
the buffer zone and can prohibit the state from building anything on the 120-acre plot.
The state, on the other hand, can be assured that the county will not use the property
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for any prupose that would be incompatible with a buffer zone.
Let me stress again that federal and state regulations, and the deed itself,
prohibit the 20 acres under state control from being used for anything other than
the disposal of the PCB contaminated soil resulting £ran the 1978 spill,
3. WILL THE LOCATION OF THE PCB LANDFILL IN WARREN COUNTY OPEN THE DOOR TO
OTHER LANDFILLS? WILL WARREN COUNTY BECOME A DUMPING GROUND FOR HAZARDOUS
WASTES FROM NORTH CAROLINA AND OTHER STATES?
Any proposals for future hazardous waste facilities in North carolina will have to
be approved by the state's Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Branch, with the guidance
of the Environmental Protection Agency, based on very stringent federal and state
regulations. It would be impossible for me to guarantee that private enterprise would
never look for areas in Warren County, or any other county, to locate waste management
facilities. But our current approval from EPA and our current agreement with the county
preclude the use of the Afton site for anything other than the PCB landfill.
4. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARTIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ILLEGAL DUMPING OF THE PCB
ALONG NORTH CAROLINA'S ROADSIDE?
. '
Not long after the PCB was illegally dumped along North carolina, Robert J, Burns
and his two sons, Timothy and Randy, were charged with performing the actual dumping
by driving a tanker truck loaded with PCB contaminated transformer oil into sparsely
settled North Carolina areas spraying the oil along the roadsides.
On April 23, 1982, Robert J. Burns was sentenced by North Carolina Superior Court
Judge Donald L. Smith of Raleigh to a 3-5 year prison term for his connection with this
infamous act. Burns also received an 18-month sentence on federal charges. Burns is
now in a state prison unit.
Timothy and Randy Burns were sentenced by Judge Smith to a prison term of 18 months
to three years. The active sentence was suspended and Timothy and Randy Burns were placedon
probation for four years, fined $500 and ordered not to return to North Carolina except
to visit his father. They are also on five years probation stemming from the federal
charges against them.
The Burns's testified in the federal trial that the PCB-laced oil came from
Ward's Transformer Company in Raleigh, one of the largest transformer repair companies
in the nation. Robert E. Ward, J r., of Ward Transformer Company, was acquitted of
state charges in connection with the PCB contamination of the state roadsides, but
he was convicted of violating the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, sentenced to
18 months in prison and fined $200,000 on that charge. He currently is appealing that
conviction.
North carolina has sued Ward and the Burnses for $2.5 million in actual damages
and $10 million in punitive damages. The case is on the trial calendar in Wake County
Superior Court for late this fall.
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s. WHAT ABOUT STATE ROAD 1604? TRUCKS BRINGING l-1A,TERIAL INTO THE LA,NDFILL
WILL TEAR IT UP, WILL IT BE RESTORED? WHO WILL PAY FOR THE RESTORATION?
State Road 1604 will be restored to its previous condition after the
landfill is closed. Several thousand truckloads of material will be hauled over this
road during the building of the landfill and it will be impossible to maintain it
while this is going on. However when the landfill is capped, the road will be restored
to its previous condition.·
6. WHY SITE THE LANDFILL IN WARREN COUNTY? THE COUNTY DOESN'T GENERATE HAZARDOUS
WASTE AND DOESN'T WANT IT. WHY DOES WARREN COUNTY GET STUCK WITH IT?
No one in North Carolina wants this waste. We have it because it was
illegally dumped and we are obliged to deal with the situation, Alternatives to
landfilling have been considered and rejected because they are not feasible under
Superfund. The decision to site the landfill was made strictly on the basis of
technical criteria for sound waste management. The site is designed and engineered
to protect the health and safety of citizens who live in the area and will be carefully
protected and monitored to guarantee the integrity of the site.
All of us associated with this project know that the concerns of Warren County
citizens are sincere. We have made a good faith effort to address those concerns and
to dispell the rwnors and misinformation about the project. I appreciate the courtesy
you have shown us and hope the people of Warren County will accept in good faith our
efforts to protect the safety and well-being of all North Carolinians affected by the
dumping of PCB on our roadsides.
Sincerely,
1"~4.&.u ..
Heman R. Clark, Secretary
N. C, Department of Crime Control
· and Public Safety