NCD980602163_19971204_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Press release - State Responds to Violations re Warren Co PCB Landfill-OCR

James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor AVA
MCDEMR
Wayne McDevitt, Secretary
North Carolina
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Release: Immediately
December 4. 1997
Contact: Pat Williamson
919-733-4996, ext. 337
Cap Press; Warren, Vance Date: Distribution:
STATE RESPONDS TO VIOLATIONS REGARDING WARREN COUNTY PCB LANDFILL
RALEIGH -The NC Division of Waste Management responded last week to a
Notice of Non-Compliance (NON) issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) for violating Toxic Substances Control Act regulations pertaining to the state-
owned PCB landfill in Warren County.
The division's response was approved by the Warren County/State PCB Landfill
Working Group and its two science advisors. The Working Group was established in
1994 to determine the current status of the landfill and develop a plan to detoxify it.
Funding for detoxification would have to be appropriated by the NC General Assembly.
PCBs are polychlorinated biphenyls, a chemical once widely used as a liquid
insulation material in electrical transformers. They were banned in 1976. In 1978,
about 30,000 gallons of PCBs were illegally dumped along roads in 14 North Carolina
counties. A site near Afton in Warren County was chosen for the landfill that would
contain the PCB-contaminated soils picked up along the roadsides.
In its response to EPA, the Division of Waste Management agreed to monitor the
landfill leachate for pH (indicates acidity) and specific conductance (indicates any
change· in water other than what would be expected) on a monthly basis as required by
permit conditions. The division also agreed to semi-annual monitoring of surface and
groundwater for pH and specific conductance using three older wells at the site and
five of the 18 new ones installed earlier this year during an extensive site investigation.
Both monitoring events began in November.
In addition, the division submitted a two-phase corrective action plan to
eliminate leachate from the landfill. EPA's intent when it issued a letter of approval in
1979, was for the leachate system to remove leachate as it was generated so there
would be no build-up over the bottom landfill liner system. However, only small
amounts ofleachate have been removed from the landfill over the years. Now, there is
an estimated 1.8 million gallons of water dispersed throughout the landfill.
In its Phase I plan regarding the problem of accumulated water in the landfill,
the division has agreed to analyze existing data concerning moisture content, porosity,
yield, and the capacity and yield of the leachate collection system. Based on this
information, the division will install any additional equipment and automatic pumps
needed to bring the landfill into full compliance with its operating permit.
In its NON, EPA asked the state to prepare a Phase II contingent plan for
replacing the existing cover system because there was some evidence that precipitation
may have entered through the landfill cover system. The division prepared a
preliminary design and agreed to replace the cap if funding for detoxification was not
received. The PCB Landfill Working Group plans to ask the General Assembly for
funds to detoxify the landfill when it convenes for the short session in May 1998. #####
Office of Public Affairs
P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, N.C. 27611
[phone]
Don Reuter
Director, Office of Public Affairs
An Equal Opportunity/ Affinnative Action Employer @