NCDEQ officials detail Brownfields agreement for Police Department site at public meeting

GOVERNMENT; COMMUNITY NEWS

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

CHAPEL HILL– On the evening of Wednesday, September 18, The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality held a meeting focused on the Brownfields agreement the Town of Chapel Hill has drafted with the state to address the deteriorating Chapel Hill Police Department building, which was constructed in the early 1980s atop of a coal ash dumping site.

The Chapel Hill Police Department is moving into the old Blue Cross-Blue Shield Building along Europa Drive while the town looks to find new uses for 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Sharon Eckard, the Brownfields Development Section Coordinator for NCDEQ, who is specifically tasked with the Chapel Hill Police Department site, discussed the Brownfields agreement in detail.

“The Brownfields agreement is a legally-enforced full document between the state and the prospective developer – which in this case is the Town of Chapel Hill,” Eckard explained. “It has the background summary of the uses (of the property), a summary of the contaminant sources, and, most importantly, the work to be performed (at the site).” 

Eckard indicated that the town would be required to submit an annual land use restriction update form, among other documents associated with the project. General statutes require a 30-day public comment period, which was held in July of this year. Chapel Hill town staff requested an additional public meeting, which was the purpose of the September 18 session. Town officials wanted to ensure that residents had at least one additional opportunity to learn about the project and to provide NCDEQ staff with feedback.

Eckard provided a historical perspective on the MLK Blvd site, indicating that the then-owner created an on-site pit there in the 1950s, which led to structural fill that included known contaminants such as coal ash mixed with other construction debris. In the early 1980s, the site was purchased by the Town of Chapel Hill, which constructed its new Police Department headquarters there.

A 2013 environmental assessment at the site of remnants of coal ash led the town to work with NCDEQ officials to assess the property and its potential feasibility for the Brownfields program. After evaluating potential remedial measures and conversing with Brownfields program staff in 2018, Chapel Hill formally applied for the Brownfields program in 2019. NCDEQ responded with a letter of eligibility, which has led to the past three-plus years of work to get ready for the future repurposing of the site.

Eckard indicated that numerous metals were found in the local groundwater in local wells that exceed local residential standards, while contaminants in soil on the site included arsenic and mercury.

Drainage pathways indicated signs of arsenic, while upgradient samples showed signs of thallium, a potentially deadly odorless chemical formally found in rat poisons many years ago. Despite the presence of these potentially lethal chemicals, Eckard indicated that none of the samplings indicated an imminent danger to the public.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that that material is harmful to public health or the environment,” Eckard explained. “It just means that we need to conduct additional analysis to evaluate the risks posed by that material to the environment. Arsenic has relatively low screening levels. It’s so low that it’s actually within the range of background North Carolina soils. Although it’s above screening levels, it could still easily be background. Some places in the western part of North Carolina have background arsenic levels much, much higher.”

Soil gas tests revealed acetone and other chemicals, but there was no indication of vapor intrusion risk for non-residential enclosed structures. Tests for radon and methane gas revealed no indication of natural radium decay affecting indoor air in the existing Police Department building, along with a limited or low methane concentration.

At nearby Bolin Creek, surface water and sediment tests revealed no appreciable concentrations of contaminant gases.

“We looked at the creek. And we know that there are many of you here (at the public meeting) that are passionate about Bolin Creek and want to protect it, and we completely understand,” Eckard explained. “I have walked this trail myself. It’s a really beautiful spot,”

Eckard indicated that the samples of surface water and creek sediment over several years—including initial samplings in 2013 and additional samplings in 2014, 2016, and 2019—did not reveal concentrations of contaminants over acceptable NCDEQ standards.

“There was one exception to that,” Eckard explained. “In 2013, manganese had a value that exceeded an EPA surface water standard. But that was never repeated in the three other sampling events. So by and large, the concentrations in creek water that were detected were also not appreciably different upstream of the coal ash site, across from the coal ash site, or downstream of the coal ash site. So there’s really no evidence from this – almost a decade of sampling – that there is significant impact from this coal ash material in the creek.”

NCDEQ redevelopment section head Bruce Nicholson explained the state’s rationale behind enacting the Brownfields legislation back in 1997. The Brownfields legislation allows municipalities to voluntarily work with the state to locate prospective developers for certain sites that have been contaminated with toxic materials.

The prospective developer cannot have caused or contributed to the contamination – which in this case is not an issue since it is believed the coal ash contamination at the Police Department site happened over a half-century ago. In addition, the prospective developer must sign a legally binding agreement spelling out the specific terms of making the site safe for future reuse. Remediation efforts that are not approved by NCDEQ officials will not be considered appropriate for the site.

“In a way, what we’re attempting to do here with these abandoned, idled, and underutilized properties is to recycle them, put them back into good use,” Nicholson explained. “And there are many particular benefits. The reasons why the General Assembly passed this is that it reduces sprawl and protects green fields by recycling and reusing these properties. But they wanted to make sure to do so safely.”

The Brownfields program, which has repurposed approximately 750 properties throughout North Carolina covering approximately 13,000 acres, has resulted in the investment of approximately $30 billion across the state over the past 27 years since its inception.

“It (the Brownfields program) provides economic development in areas that sorely needed in many cases, and job creation as well in those particular areas,” Nicholson said. “So these non-performing properties can be put back into good use and then performed on the tax rolls again for local government. So this not only makes good sense from an environmental standpoint and risk assessment standpoint, but also as well as an economic standpoint.”

Nicholson broke down the timeline for NCDEQ’s work on the Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. site, which began with an initial eligibility review nearly three years ago. In May 2022, a public presentation was held that included a contaminant/data gap assessment. From there, the project moved into the environmental risk assessment/exposure pathway analysis and the environmental risk management evaluation. Now that the Brownfields agreement has been drafted, more recent phases included this summer’s public comment period and the September 18 public meeting, followed by review of that feedback.

The next steps will include recording the draft agreement at the Orange County Register of Deeds office, followed by stewardship and monitoring of the site in perpetuity, following the Brownfields agreement.

Frannie Nilson, an environmental toxicologist with NCDEQ, explained the state’s ecological risk assessment at the MLK Blvd. site. Examiners studied concentrations of coal ashen soli, groundwater, exterior soil gas, sub-slab vapors, as well as indoor air, surface water, and local sediment, comparing those results against known regulatory standards.

The purpose of the assessment is to answer whether people could be exposed to site-related contaminants based on the proposed redevelopment. This evaluation process could lead to actions, including remediation efforts under NCDEQ standards or possible land use restrictions.

The risk assessment process revealed three areas of concern – non-residential groundwater, construction worker exposure to the potentially contaminated coal ash infill during the cleanup, along with possible exposure to anyone else who visits the site, including possible trespassers. The first concern – non-residential groundwater – will not be an issue according to NCDEQ officials, since the ground water will not be used for the water supply at any future development. Such usage is specifically prohibited in the Brownfields agreement.

“Construction worker exposure is something of interest here,” Eckard explained. “ There is a concern here, from that aspect, and construction workers pose a special case, because these workers will be coming in contact with this material. Their risk of inhalation and ingestion is greater than the average person using this site – especially if personal protective equipment or health and safety procedures are not followed. So it’s very important.”

The town has not yet selected a final remedy for ensuring construction workers will not be sickened by the toxic contaminants, but the Brownfield agreement provides a framework for final remediation.

Interim remedial measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 included removing approximately 1,000 tons of contaminated soil, which was disposed of offsite, placing 725 tons of quarry fill material and 145 cubic yards of topsoil to restore the excavation area, and installing silt fencing and hydroseeding along an embankment on the site.

Interim remedial maintenance at the site that took place this summer included the collection of suspect deposits, which were excavated and placed behind the silt fencing, along with the installation of more silt fences and hydroseeding. NCDEQ continues to actively sample the soil while also repairing an erosion situation that was taking place along the embankment.

Adam Powell is a reporter on local news and sports and an education communications professional. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the Mebane Enterprise, News of Orange County and TarHeelIllustrated.com. The public information officer for Rockingham County Schools in Eden, N.C., Powell is the author of four books and lives in Mebane with his wife and two children. This reporter can be reached at: Info@TheLocal Reporter.press