NCD980602163_19821012_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Open Letter per Governor Hunt-OCR

ECO
STATE OF NORTH · CAROLI NA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
RALEtGH 27611
Jun 09,94 14:0? P.02
JAMH B. HUNT. Jft.
CIOVSANOII
TO:
FROM;
Interested Parties
Gary Pearoa ~
Warren County Letter
October 12, 1982
Attached is a draft of an open letter that Governor
Hunt wants to have prepared for the citizen• of Worren
County, spelling out the commitments discussed in our
meeting with their representatives last Friday.
Please review this and call me with any comment• or
suggestions by the end of the day Wednesday.
• f •
ECO TEL N0.804 798 4305 Jun 09,94 14:08 P.03
An Open Letter to the Citizens of Warren Countya
I appreciated the opportunity to meet with community
leaders and members of the executive comm1ttQe of th~ concerne~
Citizens of Warren County on Friday, Ootober B.
We had a full and frank dieeuasion, lasting about
two hours. We did not agree on everything, obviously. But
it was a valuable meeting for me and, I hope, for all of
you. ·
I told your representatives that I understand and
respect your concerns .about the PCB landfill, NobOdy wants
a landfill of any kind in their community. Your representatives
expressed your concerns in strong, clear terms. They did
not hold anything back, an~ I appreciated their frankness.
In turn, I was frank with them. ! told them that,
in my judgment, the State of North Carolina had ng option
but to place the PCB-tainted material in a safe and secure
landfill. The Environmental Protection Aqency would not
approve any other method of handlin9 the material.
I told your repr•••ntativea that Warren county was
chosen for the site solely on the basis of technical reasons.
No other consideration whatsoever was involved.
I also said during the meeting that the state of
North Carolina does not intend to simply walk away from any
responsibility once the landfill is completed. I made
several commitments to that and, and l want to spell those
out for you:
l. At the request of your representatives, the
state will sponsor a public meetin; in. Warren County at
which our agency officials, engineer■ and soil scientist ■
will review the safety features at the landfill and respond
to your specific concerns and questions. If possible, this
meeting will be hal4 before the landfill ia completed and
capped, which should be within two weeks.
ECO TEL N0 .804 798 4305
warren county Citizens
Page TWO
October 12, 1982
:. .
Jun 09 ,94 14 :09 P .04
2. The state will push as hard as it can for
detoxificatio~ of the landfill when and if the appropriate
technology is developed. We will appoint a joint local-
state-federal working ;roup to oversee th1a effort. The
State Board of Science and Techn0logy, whieh I chair, will
have the specific responsibility for pressi ng th~ EnviroM\ental
Protection Agency to develop this··prooesa and to apply it to
thia landfill.
3. The state will maintain continual monitoring of
the landfill. This .will include the monitoring eyatems
included in the design of the landfill itself, monito~ing
the 270-some residential wells within a three-mile radius of
the landfill and checking streams and creeke in the are~.
4. The state will cooperate with your county health
department in providing blood tests to those who live, work
or go to school near the landfill, as well as any other
residents of the oounty who want the bloo4 test.
s. My administration will support legialation
prohibiting any other material from ever being placed in
this landfill and prohibiting the state from ever placing
another landfill in your county for any purpose. I understand
that Frank Ballance will be preparing legislation alon9
these lines, and we will work with him on thil issue.
6. The State Department of Commerce will make
special efforts to help warren County attract industry and
jobs. We will encourage businesses and industries to viait
the county and coneider aitea there for expansion.
These are the commitments I made on behalf of the
State of North Carolina. It is my responsibility to see
that they are carried out, and I take that responsibility
seriously.
I know how controversial this matter has been.
Again, I respect your concerns. And I take them seriously.
Your state government ha• a re1ponsibility to you an~ to all
the people who live along the roads where the PCB material
was dumped, as well as all the residents of North Carolina
who might have been affected had that material apread. The
atate is eonvinoed, on the basis of the best acientifie
evidence that is available to us, that the landfill is •afe
and will remain safe in the future.
ECO TEL N0.804 798 4305
Warren County Citizens
Page Three
October 12, 1982
;, .
Jun 09,94 14 :10 P .05
I
But you and I have seen that a~ientists can disagree,
and their disagreements concern us. That is why I intend to
see that the State of North Carolina keQps its commitment to
you, your children and your 9randehildren to continQ• to
press for detoxificaton of tha site, to closely monito~ it
and to guarantee its safety for 9enerationa to coma. ,··
That is the pledge I made to your representatives in
my office last Friday, and it is the pledge I make to you
now.
My very best personal regards.
Sincerely,