April 26
The Chapel Hill Town Council will review a concept plan for the redevelopment of 828 MLK, the present Police Department offices on April 27th. Given the public interest in this topic, we don’t know why the Council has placed the consideration of the concept plan as the very last thing on the Council agenda.
To participate in the virtual meeting or speak, please register at the address. It will be necessary to take the survey in order to register for the meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar in listen-only mode. Phone: 301-715-8592, Meeting ID: 880 4229 5865.
How did the landfill of construction debis and coal ash come about? Over the years truckloads of construction materials and coal ash from UNC’s boiler plan accumulated at the site before the Town build the present police administration building. When the Town decided to see the property the ash was discovered again. In 2014 Friends of Bolin Creek petitioned the Chapel Hill Town Council to clean up the coal ash that resides on the police station property. Friends of Bolin Creek have met with Town officials and asked the Town staff to hire risk experts. Here is a timeline of activities.
What is the Town of Chapel Hill Proposing? The Town is proposing the redevelopment of the police station property at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. where the coal ash and construction debris landfill is located. On Wednesday, March 23rd, the Town Council voted to proceed with a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with developer Belmont-Sayre to redevelop the police staton site into a new Town Municipal Services Center, a parking deck, and apartments where families will live. Tonight the Council will receive comment on the plan they intend to submit to the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Brownfields program.
The Town Council has concluded that it is not financially feasible to remove the ash. Friends of Bolin Creek favors uses that will not harm public health. We do not oppose office use if proper safety precautions are taken. However, we oppose housing on this site because establishing structural stability of this landfill will be difficult and the on-going erosion of coal ash from the bank poses a heath risk to the families and children living there and walking the greenway.
We know exposure to Coal ash can be harmful. Coal ash contains dangerous and carcinogenic toxic metals, along them, arsenic, mercury, lead, and chromium. Entrance through the human airway is the most common harmful impact.
When the greenway was rebuilt, the Town cleaned up truckloads of coal ash and contaminated soil that had over time washed down the steep bank to Bolin Creek. The bank remains unstable and ash is still exposed after topsoil placed there washed off the hill. The Town has not yet come forward with a satisfactory remedy for containing the coal ash.
Here are resources for this discussion.
- Read our Friends of Bolin Creek newsletter about the March 23rd decision to build a municipal services center and housing on the old landfill site.
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WRAL Video => https://www.wral.com/chapel-hill-residents-concerned-over-possible-housing-complex-on-top-of-coal-ash-site/20212605/
WRAL Article => https://www.wral.com/chapel-hill-hopes-to-build-low-income-housing-on-top-of-toxic-coal-ash-will-they-be-able-to-safely/20210637/
Lisa Sorg Article that includes the 828 MLK Plan => https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2022/04/11/this-week-in-pollution-another-violation-for-winston-weaver-fertilizer-plant-plus-meetings-on-proposed-mine-coal-ash/#sthash.Zn1444nn.dpbs