We won the battle against housing on the coal ash dump. But in the current plan, the Town is asking permission to leave all the coal ash dump perched just above the public greenway with minimal protective measures while constructing an office building and parking deck on top of the coal ash.
We believe this draft agreement between the Town and North Carolina DEQ does not protect public health and the environment for the following reasons:
(1) Coal ash is unstable, as a recent sinkhole confirms in the accompanying photo below
(2) leaving the ash in place covered only with a thin layer of soil poses unacceptable health risks from the high levels of arsenic, radiation, and other toxic pollutants at the site
(3) Having minimal land use restrictions does not sufficiently protect human health or water quality.
Please attend the September 19th hearing in person. Tell Chapel Hill and DEQ their plan is unacceptable — they must do more to clean up the coal ash!
Where did this plan come from?
The Town Council voted to join the State Brownfields program, which allows the town to avoid cleaning up this polluted property instead of following expert opinion to remove the coal ash. This program allows certain types of development under conditions attached to the land. While the Town has said it will not construct housing on the coal ash dump for now, this plan would allow the construction of a large parking deck and Town administrative offices on the unstable coal ash dump. Please speak about this amended plan at the September 18th meeting at the Chapel Hill Public Library.
Friends of Bolin Creek (FOBC) Advocacy
FOBC has advocated for a safe cleanup since Town officials first disclosed the coal ash dump in 2013. Over the years, Chapel Hill hired consultants to study the contamination and assess risk by responding to FOBC and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) requests. Media coverage and former employees have identified the UNC power plant as the source of the coal ash, but the University has not formally acknowledged responsibility.
The main findings that have emerged reveal contaminated soil and polluted groundwater caused by toxic pollutants, including high levels of arsenic, leaching out of the coal ash, and coal ash deposits migrating off the property along the Bolin Creek trail due to erosion from a cliff formation made up of coal ash and construction debris as high as 40 feet. FOBC brought to the Town’s attention the eroding coal ash found along the Bolin Creek greenway (1000 tons of which has since been hauled away, though the erosion problems continue) and pushed for studies that found unacceptable risks posed by the coal ash for people recreating on the site and construction workers, as well as anyone living on the site.
Some council members have asserted that coal ash removal is risky or would harm other communities, but the real risk is leaving the coal ash on an unlined, unstable, steep slope. As shown by the many negotiated agreements SELC has forged with Duke Energy to remove millions of tons of coal ash to lined landfills with leak detection throughout North Carolina and the Southeast, cleanups can be accomplished safely. They eliminate the long-term risks of unlined coal ash storage — including ongoing pollution, collapses, and flooding risks from increasingly severe storms — in impacted communities.
Friends of Bolin Creek, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, supports the town’s decision to bar housing on this site. However, we oppose the proposed Brownfields agreement for offices because it does not require removing any coal ash. Large ash deposits will remain near the surface under the proposed plan. Relying on a dirt cap to cover an unstable ash dump increases the risk of exposure to the health of town employees and the public they serve — especially children and pets playing in the public spaces on the redeveloped property. In the current plan, public green spaces on the site would be created on top of coal ash, covered only with a layer of dirt. Using dirt to cover coal ash has failed to prevent exposure at many sites around the country, including previous efforts at this site in Chapel Hill.
What are the mitigation measures that would improve this plan?
- Require the Town to remove the steep slope of coal ash and other on-site areas where pollution concentrations and health risks are highest.
- Any coal ash left on site requires monitoring of soil, groundwater, and Bolin Creek in perpetuity.
- No housing units are allowed now or anytime in the future.
Resources:
- Link to the Town’s Proposed Plan. You can access the Town’s proposed plan online via NCDEQ by entering the project number 23022-19-068 into the search bar at https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WasteManagement .
- You can access the plan via hard copy at the Chapel Hill Public Library (100 Library Drive) by asking at the service desk on the main level.
- Read FOBC objections in this recent letter to DEQ.
- See the July press release about the Brownfields proposed plan and why building on coal ash poses unacceptable risks.
- Coal Ash More Dangerous Than Previously Known, NC Newswire, Lisa Sorg
The Department of Environmental Quality promises to consider public comments before issuing the final plan. That should spur us all to attend and speak up at the September 18th public hearing at 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel Hill Public Library, Room B!