Agenda - 06-01-2010 - 8a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Christy Leake Grants Management Specialist Office of Grants Management National Center for Research Resources, NIH One Democracy Plaza 6701 Democracy Blvd, Room 1045 Bethesda, MD 20892 1 C06 RRO29912 -01 PI: William L. Roper, MD, MPH Ms. Leake: 33 OFFICE OF THE VICE. CHANCELLOR. VOR RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEYEI.OYMENT 104 AIR110M WUVFi SC VIT. 2201 7 g1g.9ti6.)yt t CAMPUS BOX 13511 CHAVEI llEt.i., NC = .7599-1350 Y 919.94_.335a rese arc le_uue.cdu fowl When the National institutes of Health awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill a construction grant earlier this year to expand our Bingham Facility, it was an impressive endorsement of the quality of the University's genetic research on hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and cardiovascular disease. let me reassure you that you have made a wise investment. Not only will this expansion enable the University to consolidate two remote and crowded facilities In one new and more spacious location designed especially for large animal research, it will also bring jobs and revenue to the local economy — an important goal of economic stimulus funding. it is as vital to the University's interests as it is to those of the NiH that we complete this expansion as expeditiously and responsibly as possible. The federal government has made a valuable investment in the Bingham Facility. It is understandable that you want to be certain you have chosen wisely. When you hear reports of "wastewater issues," it is your responsibility to find out more information. Thank you for the opportunity to tell you more about how the University is addressing recent wastewater problems at the Bingham Facility. Part of the University's long -range plans for the Bingham Facility included the 2008 installation of a wastewater treatment system to replace the one from the 1970s with a system with the capacity to handle the waste that an expanded facility would generate. The system used a biological treatment process to reduce biodegradable wastes and nutrients and ultraviolet light to disinfect the wastewater. This highly treated wastewater was then discharged into synthetically lined ponds, where it was held until weather and soil conditions allowed it to be spray irrigated. This wastewater treatment system began to experience a series of problems in late 2009, including a leak from the largest holding pond that allowed some of the highly treated wastewater to reach a tributary of Collins Creek, which runs through the property. Because of the problems, the University has shut down the wastewater treatment system on the site and is hauling the facility's wastewater directly to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA), the public wastewater treatment agency serving Chapel Hill and Carrboro. (The Bingham Facility is in rural Orange County, outside of OWASA's service area, which is why we had to construct our own wastewater treatment system.) The incidents resulted in two notices of violation from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which regulates the wastewater treatment system. The violations were for the method of discharge, not