1-3-24 PB Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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The long, shared southern border with the old landfill limits the viable uses for our parcel and the neighboring parcels owned by Orange County. There is a long history of controversy between the county landfill on Eubanks Rd and its neighbors. 12 The most publicized of these issues concerns the newer portion of the landfill south of Eubanks Rd near the Rogers Road community. In a 2011 article supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism, Rebekah Cowel reported on that community. Last year, the Orange County Health Department tested the community’s drinking water wells and reported that nine of the 11 wells were contaminated and did not meet federal drinking water standards. Contaminants found include the carcinogen vinyl chloride, which was detected at levels 1,066 times higher than DENR’s acceptable level. Long-term exposure to vinyl chloride can lead to “rare cancer of the liver,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Benzene was detected at six times higher than acceptable levels. Long-term exposure can lead to anemia, a decrease in blood platelets and increased risk of cancer. Other contaminants included tetrachlorethylene and dichlorethene. Significantly, the portion of the landfill near the Rogers Road community is the newer, more tightly regulated and properly-lined portion of the landfill. Our parcel, and those nearby, share a border with the portion of a landfill built before 1983. According to the same article, such older landfills are “‘preregulatory,” essentially unlined dumps whose contents often leak into the soil and groundwater.” 13 According to the Orange County Comprehensive Plan “[m]ethane from the closed municipal solid waste landfill is passively vented” and the closed area still “generates a biogas that is vented to the atmosphere” (p. 8-21). While problematic for many types of community and uses, our intended proposal for the property isn’t affected by these issues or operations. Based on email correspondence with Robert Williams and Bruce Woody, Orange County’s Director and Assistant Director of Solid Waste, we expect no conflicts with our neighbors to the south. To our west is the 1,000+ acre Blackwood Division of Duke Forest. The portion of Duke Forest adjacent to our 10-acre parcel is used for research and is intentionally off limits to the public. According to Duke Forest Supervisor Tom Craven, their primary concern has been the 13 https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/digging-deeper/ 12 https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/fighting-environmental-racism-in-north-carolina; https://www.renacommunitycenter.com/the-landfill; https://mediahub.unc.edu/rogers-road-neighborhoods-fight-environmental-justice/; https://hpdp.unc.edu/2011/07/landfill-air-pollution-may-be-as-unhealthy-as-it-is-unpleasant-study-finds; https://stonewalls.substack.com/p/greenetract 15 32