Agenda - 03-13-2012 - 8b - Laserfiche WebLink

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that includes 350 parking spaces, fellowship hall, administrative complex, day care, gymnasium, independent living units, memorial garden, sales office, sanctuary, wellness /senior /teen center, mausoleum, assisted living /continuing care units, guest house and health clinic. These development applications are currently proceeding through the Town of Chapel Hill's development review process and it is the County's understanding that the Town has requested that the applicant submit a "landfill mitigation plan ". The property seems to contain a variety of materials that are buried over a several acre area and contains construction and demolition debris, land clearing and inert debris, and possibly municipal solid waste and /or commercial waste materials. This unregulated and non - permitted dump was the subject of a Warning Letter from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in February 1992 (re: non - conforming dump site). However, there is no record that additional action was taken on this matter and there is no record of Orange County being notified. Staff believes the County should use utmost caution by not taking any cleanup action (excavation of waste materials) that might expose Orange County to substantial environmental /financial liability. The County Health Department has historically provided well water sampling in this area which includes the wells down - gradient of this "dump site ". Additionally, the area residents have been offered water sampling at no cost through the Landfill Area Water Assistance Fund approved by the BOCC last year. Based on available data to date, there has been no contamination that could be deemed likely to originate from this buried waste. Health Department Staff will continue to evaluate groundwater data as it becomes available. Area residents on well water will continue to be encouraged to request testing of their drinking water wells at no cost. If wells are discovered that appear to have been impacted by this dump site, Health Department and Solid Waste Department Staff will collaborate to develop plans of action related to resident notification and site mitigation for Board consideration. It may also be necessary to include NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Health and Human Services in site evaluation and /or mitigation discussions. At the time this neighborhood cleanup program was conceived, it was not known that unregulated, non - permitted for - profit waste dumps existed in a neighborhood nearby the landfill. There are two of these type dump locations that have been identified that fall into this category that staff is aware of at this time. The neighborhood cleanup program is not intended to mitigate potentially large areas where substantial quantities of unknown debris /trash have been buried or otherwise landfilled. Therefore staff advises that some limitations or constraints be applied to this program in order to avoid regulatory, environmental and financial liability. Staff believes it is not in Orange County's best interests to become involved in cleanup activities where there is a reasonable potential for liability and has therefore developed a draft neighborhood cleanup protocol and timeline (Attachment 4) with the objective to provide valuable cleanup services for neighborhoods within % mile of the landfill, consistent with the direction of the Board, while being judicious in order to avoid incurring unreasonable liability. It is staffs understanding that the intent of the cleanup activity is to remove those piles of trash and other materials that have been dumped (littering, roadside dumping, etc.) in the neighborhoods surrounding the landfill and not large quantities that represents unknown debris /waste that has been land disposed without proper permits or licenses. The process envisioned and discussed in more detail in Attachment 4 includes: