NCD980602163_19830420_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Correspondence with Angela Wheeler re request for information-OCR

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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION IV
APR 2 o 1983
REF: 4RC
Ms. Angela Wheeler
312 Mciver
345 COURTLAND STREET
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30365
University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
Dear Ms. Wheeler:
This letter responds to your March 24, 1983, letter to the
former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), Anne Gorsuch, in which you request information concern-
ing the Warren County, North Carolina, PCB landfill. I
appreciate your interest and would like to respond to your
request.
In June 1978 liquid materials containing PCBs were discharged
on the roadsides of the military reservation at Fort Bragg,
near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Shortly thereafter,
complaints were received from various areas of eastern and
Piedmont North Carolina of like occurrences. From Warren,
Johnston, and Harnett counties in the east and from Lee,
Chatham, and Person counties in the Piedmont area, reports
came into Raleigh of roadside areas saturated with an oily
substance later identified as containing PCBs. In all,
fifty one separate sites in fourteen counties were sprayed
with the contaminant. A thorough investigation by State and
Federal officials determined that the substance was used oil
removed from transformers at Ward Transformer Company in
Raleigh and disposed of by a private contractor. Federal
indictments arising out of the incidents resulted in guilty
pleas or verdicts of guilty against all of those allegedly
involved.
As soon as the substance was identified as containing PCBs,
studies and tests were begun to determine the safest, most
feasible, and economical way of dealing with the 240 miles
of contaminated roadside. Knowledgeable experts in the
field were either brought in or contacted in an effort to
determine whether it would be best to treat the soil in
place or remove it for burial or incineration.
It was subsequently determined that alternatives to a
landfill would not be effective or feasible. The task thus
began of selecting a suitable landfill site. The State of
North Carolina began the site screening process with some
ninety potential sites. The State eliminated the great
majority of these sites from consideration on the first
screening because they failed to meet the requirements for a
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PCB landfill. As a result of further screening, the State
narrowed the original list to only a few possible sites that
were suitable (e.g., had adequate soils for liner construction
and were large enough to accommodate the landfill and surround-
ing buffer zone).
After the State of North Carolina selected the Warren County
site, the State prepared an application for the landfill and
submitted it to EPA, Region IV, in December 1978. The appli-
cation was subsequently approved after extensive review in
accordance with existing regulations promulgated by EPA
under the authority of the Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA), 15 U.S.C. §2601 et seq. Copies of the approval
letters are attached hereto for your information. A Federal
district court upheld EPA's approval in Twitty, et al., v.
State of North Carolina, et al., 527 F.Supp. 778 (E.D. N.C.
1981), and Warren County v. State of North Carolina, et al.,
528 F.Supp. 276 (E.D. N.C. 1981). On December 27, 1982,
the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's
decision in Twitty. Copies of all three decisions are attached.
On May 26, 1982, the State of North Carolina and EPA entered
into a Cooperative Agreement pursuant to Superfund, 42 u.s.c.
§9601 et seq., whereby EPA agreed to provide the State with
ninety percent of the costs, up to a maximum of $2,543,000, for
the clean-up of the PCB-contaminated soil found at the North
Carolina roadside spill sites. The Finding of No Significant
Impact and the Environmental Assessment which were prepared
by EPA in regard to that funding action are attached.
Subsequently, the State of North Carolina began action to
physically remove the contaminated soil from the spill sites
and deposit the contaminated soil in the EPA approved landfill
in Warren County, North Carolina. This action has been virtually
concluded.
In July 1982 a lawsuit entitled NAACP, et al., v. Gorsuch, et
al., Case Number 82-768-CIV-5 (E.D. N.C.), was filed. The
plaintiffs sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief
to stop construction of the PCB landfill. Plaintiffs alleged
various civil rights violations and violations of Federal
and State environmental statutes. EPA moved to dismiss the
complaint for failure to state a valid claim for relief and
for lack of jurisdiction. At a hearing held on August 4 in
Raleigh, Judge Britt orally dismissed all environmental and
civil rights claims against EPA. Among other things, he held
that EPA had nothing to do with the selection of the landfill
location. Judge Britt's written order dismissing certain
claims against the State of North Carolina is enclosed.
In January 1983 the United States of America filed suit in
federal court against Ward Transformer Company and Robert
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Earl Ward, Jr. under Superfund seeking reimbursement of
costs incurred by the United States in connection with the
defendants' alleged dumping of PCBs along the North Carolina
roadsides. U.S.A. v. Ward and Ward Transformer Co., Case
Number 83-63CIV-5 (E.D. N.C.). The State of North Carolina,
subsequently, filed a complaint in intervention in this case
and is now a party plaintiff. The case is pending.
The Warren County landfill was designed for one time use
only to contain the PCB-contaminated soil from the contami-
nated North Carolina roadsides. The landfill as designed
and constructed is safe and environmentally sound and presents
no threat to the local ecology or water supply.
The landfill was constructed with major emphasis on the pro-
tection of surface water and groundwater. The design incor-
porates an artificial liner and five foot compacted clay
liner below the landfill to prevent hydraulic connection
with groundwater and an artificial liner and two foot compacted
clay liner on top of the landfill to prevent infiltration of
rain and surface water.
There are also leachate collection systems installed above
and below the bottom liners to remove any leachate. This
system will be monitored monthly. In addition, there are
groundwater monitoring wells installed around the site which
will be sampled semi-annually. Surface streams located
downgrade from the site will also be monitored semi-annually.
The disposal site design, therefore, provides for stringent
environmental isolation of the PCB-contaminated soil.
The Agency is presently conducting research in PCB detoxifica-
tion. Through our Municipal Environmental Research Laboratory
in Cincinnati, Ohio, we recently began a project entitled "In-
Situ Treatment Techniques Applicable to Large Quantities of
Hazardous Waste Contaminated Soils". The project will be
completed in approximately one year, at which time it is
anticipated that the state of knowledge will be sufficient to
determine if a sound field scale technology evaluation is
feasible at some location in the United States. Since the
Warren County landfill is now sealed, any future field scale
technology evaluation project would not be appropriate for
the material contained in the landfill.
I trust this information is useful to you. If I can be of
further assistance, please let me know.
urs,
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Reginal Ad nistrator
Enclosures
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cc: North Carolina Department of Human Resources
North Carolina Department of Crime Control
and Public Safety