Chapel Hill proposes building a government services complex on the coal ash pile with minimal protective measures. We find the present agreement does not protect public health and the environment for the following reasons. The NC Dept of the Environment is taking comments on the plan until cob Tuesday, July 30 (not July 31 as orginally stated). Send your comments to bruce.nicholson@deq.nc.gov .
Coal Ash in Chapel Hill. North Carolina officials want to know what you think about a draft agreement they have negotiated with the Town of Chapel Hill. The draft agreement describes what sort of development can happen on the police station property at 828 MLK Jr. Blvd., the location of a coal ash pile that has leached coal ash pollutants into soil and groundwater along Bolin Creek since the 1970s. Bolin Creek feeds into Little Creek and Jordan Lake, a regional water supply. The draft agreement calls for offices, parking, and possible recreation areas, but no housing. Send your comments to bruce.nicholson@deq.nc.gov.
The draft documents and a list of concerns can be found on the page below. After the public comment period closes, we expect the NC DEQ to finalize the agreement (with or without changes in response to the public comments). The Town will then request a particular redevelopment use. The town has made it clear it will not request the building of houses on the site now. The current draft calls for government building and no additional ash removal. The final agreement will specify how much coal ash they are leaving in place, what protective measures they are or are not requiring, what limitations are put in place, and what types of uses will be allowed.
We urge you to send your email comment to DEQ and copying the Town Council making your points. All comments on the proposed development agreement for the coal ash site should be addressed to Bruce Nicholson, NCDEQ, at this email address. bruce.nicholson@deq.nc.gov
Read this piece from WUNC about the draft agreement for how the Town is moving forward with coal ash contamination at 828 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Learn how to access the Brownfields documents here.
