Wendell News Outlet

Dear Friends,

In September of 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an official decision document on the cleanup of PCB chemical contamination at the Ward Transformer Site, located adjacent to the Raleigh airport and headwaters of Brier Creek. The official document is the Record of Decision (ROD) and requires the parties conducting the cleanup to take various actions. In this case, the contamination extends well beyond the boundaries of the immediate site. Our ongoing concerns surround how the planned cleanup would address the contamination in waters downstream of the initial source -- including the Neuse River and its tributaries -- and who will pay the ultimate price of the work that must be done to ensure a safe and healthy environment.

Please join us for a public information meeting to learn more about how the chemical contamination affects you and alternative methods for eliminating the pollutant in our water.

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009
Time: 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Place: Cameron Village Public Library, 1930 Clark Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27605

During the public meeting hosted by the Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation, you will have an opportunity to view maps and images of the project and associated sites, learn why we continue to be concerned about the EPA’s decision, and find out what you can do to help ensure the use of appropriate and protective measures to address the toxic legacy of the Ward Transformer Site. The Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation’s technical consultant Dr. Peter deFur will present information about the EPA’s proposed solution. Dr. deFur is president of Environmental Stewardship Concepts and an Affiliate Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he conducts research on environmental health and ecological risk assessment. Dr. Fred Pfaender of the UNC Superfund Basic Research Program and Drew Cade, Lake Crabtree County Park Manager, will also be available to answer questions about what the EPA’s proposed solution means for our families and our waterways.

There remain some very concerning aspects to the EPA’s plan to address contamination in the Neuse River watershed. I hope you will join us this Thursday to learn more about the plan and how it may impact you and your family. Please feel free to contact me -- alissa@neuseriver.org or (919) 856-1180 -- with any questions or concerns you may have regarding this or any other issue related to the health of our waterways.

Sincerely,

Alissa Bierma
Upper Neuse RIVERKEEPER®

Additional Resources___________________________

Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation's PCB Webpage
PCBs Still a Problem for the Neuse, NBC New/MyNC.com
Protecting Our Water: PCB Contamination at Ward Transformer, video produced by UNCSBRP
EPA's Superfund Site Progress Profile for the Ward Transformer Site

Background___________________________

In 1979 the Ward Transformer building/reconditioning facility (near the airport) was found to be leaking chemicals to the surrounding areas, including the Unnamed Tributary to Little Brier Creek, Little Brier Creek, Brier Creek Reservoir, Brier Creek and Crabtree Lake. Little was done to clean up the chemical pollution. It was not until 1994 that the first action was taken to address the contamination caused by 20+ years of facility operation, and even now, the work has only really begun.

The main chemicals of concern at the Ward Transformer site are polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs are combinations of 209 chlorinated compounds that were historically used in electrical equipment (like transformers) as coolants and lubricants. PCBs do not break down quickly, so concentrations increase along the food chain, resulting in human exposure to high amounts if contaminated organisms are consumed. Children and pregnant women are especially susceptible to the effects of PCBs, which include liver damage and cancer in adults and low birth weight and delayed motor skills in infants.

Due to the severity of PCB contamination at the site, the Ward transformer facility, along with the surrounding areas including the upper portion of Brier Creek, has been classified by the EPA as a Superfund Site. It will have more than 150,000 tons of contaminated soil/sediment removed to be safely disposed of off-site or to have the PCBs removed from it by low temperature thermal desorption (LTTD). However, the downstream contamination is being treated as a separate project that is still in the planning phase. Due to public concern, the recent EPA Record of Decision (ROD) includes more investigation and cleanup than in the original Proposed Plan, but the ROD does not address the concerns over PCBs in the reservoir or the lake. The ROD specifically does not address the chemical pollution in Crabtree Lake, thus the fish consumption advisories will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.

Under the current ROD, Brier Creek Reservoir, Lake Crabtree, and Lower Crabtree Creek will have no soil/sediment removal, and will use a form of cleanup called Monitored Natural Recovery (MNR). MNR basically allows the community to sit back and wait as natural processes very slowly degrade the chemical contamination until it is no longer a problem. Dr. deFur has criticized the use of MNR because the practice has not been demonstrated to be effective and has the potential to leave contamination in place, continuing to threaten health and the environment.

Lower Neuse
RIVERKEEPER®
Larry Baldwin
1307 Country Club Road
New Bern, NC 28562
252-637-7972
252-514-0051 fax
riverkeeper@neuseriver.org

Upper Neuse
RIVERKEEPER®
Alissa Bierma
112 South Blount Street
Suite 103
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-856-1180
919-839-0767 fax
alissa@neuseriver.org