NCD980602163_19981214_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Letter from Henry Lancaster to US-Epa Regional Administrator-OCR

JAMES 8. HUNT JR.
GoVERNOR
WAYNE MCDEVITT
SECRETARY
John H. Hankinson, Jr.
Regional Administrator
EPA Region4
Atlanta Federal Center
100 Alabama Street, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303-3104
Dear Mr. Hankinson:
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
December 14, 1998
I am writing to enlist your support and assistance in the state's effort to
detoxify the PCB landfill in Warren County. The Governor, in this year's
capital budget proposal to the North Carolina General Assembly requested $15
million to detoxify the landfill. That proposal was made in keeping with his
October 20, 1982 commitment to the residents of Warren County that "the state
will push as hard as it can for detoxification of the landfill when and if the
appropriate and feasible technology is developed." The Joint State/Warren
County PCB Landfill Working Group, organized in 1993 by former DEHNR
Secretary Jonathan Howes to assess the site and recommend a detoxification
technology, identified an appropriate and feasible detoxification technology -
Base Catalyzed Decomposition (BCD).
The preliminary conceptual design of the full scale detoxification project
is divided into two components. The first component provides written
conceptual designs for site preparation, excavation, treatment,
confirmation/verification sampling, stormwater management, security, site
reclamation, decontamination and demobilization. These aspects of the project
have been conceptually designed to provide the basis for a detailed cost estimate
for detoxification.
The second component presents those aspects of the project which will
be completed during the final design portion. The final design items include
emergency response plan, permitting plan. performance demonstration plan, air
monitoring plan, quality assurance plan, health and safety plan, construction
quality assurance plan and technical specifications.
To assist in the overall project oversight, a Citizens Advisory Board
(CAB) will be established as a committee of the Working Group and will
include an independent science advisor(s). The design/build detoxification
contractor will include Program Management, working in conjunction with the
state to ensure that the local community has a strong role in the detoxification
P.O. Box 27687, RALEIGH NC 2761 1-7687 I 512 NO RTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH NC 27604
PHONE [phone] FAX 9 1 9-7; 5 -3060 WWW.EHNR,STATE.NC.US/EH NR/
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY / AFFIRMATIVE ACTi0N EMPL OYER -500/o R ECYCLED/10% POST-CONSUMER PAPER
Mr. John Hankinson
December 14, 1998
Page 2
project's implementation. The design/build detoxification contractor will also
include a Coordinator to ensure maximum economic benefit to local/minority
businesses and the local economy. Direct local economic impact is estimated in
the range of $3 million to $5 million. That includes hiring of local individuals
and utilization of local businesses for supplies, materials and services to support
the detoxification project. A detailed cost estimate to perform the project
utilizing the BCD process has been prepared. The total estimate is $23,975,000
which includes a $2,079,000 contingency.
Additionally, as you may recall, PCBs were sprayed along the roadsides
of 14 counties. Properties within the jurisdiction of Fort Bragg were included.
In 1982, the state entered into an agreement with the Department of Defense
(DOD) to accept PCB contaminated soil from Fort Bragg for disposal in the
Warren County PCB Landfill. The amount of Fort Bragg PCB Wastes in 7,211
truckloads constituted about 10 percent of the total PCB wastes landfilled in
Warren County. The Army paid about $200,000 for landfill construction and
maintenance costs. It is our intention to pursue a pro rata contribution from
DOD for detoxification of the landfill.
The North Carolina General Assembly in the 1998 legislative session
appropriated $2 million to begin detoxification of the landfill and specified BCD
as the detoxification technology. We are seeking your assistance in meeting the
detoxification goal. We are in need of approximately $9 million from federal
sources to complete the project. The pro rata share from DOD equals $2.4
million. How can we enlist EPA to aid us in acquiring the balance of our needs?
cc: Wayne McDevitt, Secretary
Eva Clayton, U.S. Congress
Dollie Burwell, Co-Chair,
Henry M. Lancaster, II
Deputy Secretary
Joint State/Warren Co. PCB Landfill Working Group
Frank Ballance, NC State Senate
Mike Kelley, Waste Management