Agenda - 06-05-2012 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 Michael Talbert summarized the information in the agenda abstract. 2 3 BACKGROUND: On October 4, 2011 the Board of Commissioners authorized staff to 4 proceed with a 'one-time' effort to clean up illegal dump sites located within three-fourths of one 5 mile of the landfill boundary (Attachment 1), at no cost to the individual property owners. This 6 item provides the opportunity for the Board of County Commissioners to review staffs plans 7 and timeline to proceed with the cleanup of waste improperly dumped on properties within 3/ 8 mile of the Orange County Landfill. The plan is subject to modification relative to other 9 priorities. 10 11 Subsequent to the October 4th authorization, staff has performed a windshield survey of the 12 area as well as spoken to property owners and otherwise inquired about the extent of the illegal 13 dumping problem. As a result, staff has acquired additional information that will impact final 14 cleanup planning. There appear to be two large, unregulated (non-permitted) and currently 15 inactive for-profit disposal sites within the delineated %mile area (Attachment 2). These sites 16 raise complicated legal issues surrounding potential County and property owner liability that 17 require a more measured approach. This has caused staff, pursuant to County Attorney 18 advice, to amend the previous planning to take this, and perhaps other, unexpected and 19 potentially problematic dump sites into account (Attachment 3). 20 21 One property of concern has been recently purchased by St. Paul AME Church. The church 22 has submitted applications to the Town of Chapel Hill for a rezoning of 20.4 acres from R-1 to 23 R-5 zoning and for a special use permit as a mixed use development (to be developed in 24 phases)that includes 350 parking spaces, fellowship hall, administrative complex, day care, 25 gymnasium, independent living units, memorial garden, sales office, sanctuary, 26 wellness/senior/teen center, mausoleum, assisted living/continuing care units, guest house and 27 health clinic. These development applications are currently proceeding through the Town of 28 Chapel Hill's development review process and it is the County's understanding that the Town 29 has requested that the applicant submit a "landfill mitigation plan." 30 31 The property seems to contain a variety of materials that are buried over a several acre area 32 and contains construction and demolition debris, land clearing and inert debris, and possibly 33 municipal solid waste and/or commercial waste materials. This unregulated and non-permitted 34 dump was the subject of a Warning Letter from the North Carolina Department of Environment 35 and Natural Resources in February 1992 (re: non-conforming dump site). However, there is no 36 record that additional action was taken on this matter and there is no record of Orange County 37 being notified. Staff believes the County should use utmost caution by not taking any cleanup 38 action (excavation of waste materials) that might expose Orange County to substantial 39 environmental/financial liability. 40 41 The County Health Department has historically provided well water sampling in this area which 42 includes the wells down-gradient of this "dump site". Additionally, the area residents have been 43 offered water sampling at no cost through the Landfill Area Water Assistance Fund approved by 44 the BOCC last year. Based on available data to date, there has been no contamination that 45 could be deemed likely to originate from this buried waste. Health Department Staff will 46 continue to evaluate groundwater data as it becomes available. Area residents on well water 47 will continue to be encouraged to request testing of their drinking water wells at no cost. If wells 48 are discovered that appear to have been impacted by this dump site, Health Department and 49 Solid Waste Department Staff will collaborate to develop plans of action related to resident 50 notification and site mitigation for Board consideration. It may also be necessary to include NC