The Chapel Hill Town Council voted to move ahead with building government buildings and a parking garage on the coal ash pile underneath the former Police Department headquarters. The existing building will be razed. On September 13, 2023, the Council adopted a resolution authorizing the Town Manager to proceed with leasing space for the Police Department while staff continues working with the State Brownfields program for 828 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
On December 30, 2024, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a Brownfields Agreement that they have signed. Town staff are currently reviewing the agreement, which we expect to sign as well. The agreement will give us a starting point for what we can do at the site. We are also planning opportunities for staff, Council, and the community to share input about the property’s future. We’ll share more information as those opportunities take shape.
The Brownfields Agreement outlines what future uses NCDEQ will allow on the property, as well as remediation measures for those uses. The draft agreement doesn’t make any decisions about the future of the property – that’s what Council, staff, and community will do together once the agreement is finalized.
Here’s what the draft agreement says we can and can’t do there:
- We can’t put housing on the property.
- We could put a municipal services center, recreational space, transit access, and parking – all with NCDEQ-approved coal ash remediation.
Despite the new warning from EPA, the NC Department of Environmental Quality did not require that any coal ash be removed from the site.