NCD980602163_19821020_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Governor Hunt's Open Letter to Citizens of Warren Co-OCR

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ST ATE OF NORTH CAROLI NA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
RALEIGH 27611
Jun 10 ,94 14=24 P.02
JA"1H 8 . HUNT. Jfl.
OOVE,.NOl'I October 20, 1982
An Open Letter to the Citi~ens of Warren County:
I appreciated the opportunity to meet with community
leaders and memb~rs of the executive committee of the Concerned
Citizens of Warren County on Friday, Octobar 8.
We had a full and frank discussion, lasting about
two hours. We did not a9ree on everything, obviously. But
it was a valuable meeting for me And, I hope, for ~ll of
you.
I told your representatives that I understand and
respect your concerns about the PCB l~ndfill. 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, and I appreciated their frankness.
In turn, 1 was frank with them. I told them that,
in my judgment, the State of North Carolina had no option
but to place the PCB-tainted material in a safe and secure
landfill. The Environmental Protection Agency would not
approve handling the material in place along the xoadside.
I told your representatives that Warren County was
chosen for the site solely on the basis of technical reasons.
No other con5ideration whatsoever was involved.
I also said during the meeting thAt the State of
North Carolina does not inten4 to sirnplr walk awAy from any
responsibility once the landfill is completed. I made
several convnitments to that end, and l want to spell those
out for you:
1. At the request of your representatives, the
state will aponsor a public meeting in ~arren County at
which our agency officials, engineers and soientists will
review the safety features At the landfill and respond to
your specific concerns an~ questions. The meetin9 will be
held at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 27, in the NationAl
Guard Armory in Warrenton.
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Warren county citizens
Page Two
October 20, 1982
Jun 10,94 14:25 P.03
2. The state will push as hard a~ it can for
detoxification of the landfill when and if the appropriate
and feasible technology is developed. We will seek to
establish a joint local-state-federal wor~ing qroup to
pursue this end. The State Board of Science and Technology,
which l chair, will have the specific responsibility for
pressing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop this
process and for monitoring research to determine when
detoxification is possible,
3. The state will maintain continual monitoring of
the landfill. Thia will include the monitorin; systems
included in the design of the landfill itself, monitoring df
the residential wells within a three-mile radi~s of the
landfill and checking streams and creeks in the area.
4. The state will cooperate with your county health
department in providing environmental and health monitoring
for those p~rsons who live, work or go to ~ehool near the
landfill. Warren County Health Director Joe Lennon and
or. Ronald Levine, the state's health director, will be
responsible for developing a monitoring program that will
9uarantee that the health of the citizens in the area is
being protected.
s. My administration will support legislation
prohibiting any additional contaminated soil from ever being
placed in this landfill and prohibiting the ~tate 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 this i11ue.
6. The State Department of commerce will make
special efforts to help Warren County att.act indU'ttry and
jobs. We will encourage businesses and industries to visit
the county and consider sites there for expansion.
The5e are the commitments I made on behalf of the
State of North Carolina. It ia m, responsibility to see
that they are carried out, and I take that responsibility
seriously.
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Page Three
October 20, 1982
Jun 10,94 14:26 P.04
I know how controversial this matter has been.
Again, I respect your concerns. And r take them seriou~ly.
Your state government has a responsibility to you and to all
the people who live along the roads where ~he PCB material
was dumped, as well as all the residents of North Carolina
who might have been affected had that mat~riAl spreAd and
entered the food chain. The state is con¥inced, on the
basis of the best scientific evidence that is available to
us, that the landfill is safe and will remain safe in the
future.
But you and I have seen that scientists oan disagree,
and their disagreements concern u~. That is why I intend to
see that the State of North Carolina keep$ its commitment t'o
you, your children and your grandchildren to continue to
press for detoxifioaton of the site, to closely monitor it
and to guarantee its safety for 9enerations to come.
That is the pledge I mac:ie to your representatives. in
my office last Friday, and it is the pled9e I make to you • now.
My very beat personal reqaras.
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