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Safe Housing for Chapel Hill
Everyone Deserves a Safe Place to Live
A FACT SHEET
Chapel Hill’s Plan to Build Housing on a Toxic Coal Ash Waste Dump at 828 Martin
Luther King Boulevard Is a Clear & Present Danger to
Resident Health
Contact: Dr. Edward Marshall, edward.marshall@duke.edu
“Every child in Chapel Hill deserves the
chance to come to school healthy and ready to learn. If we decide…to let some
of our children grow up on giant mounds of hazardous coal ash, that goal
becomes far harder to achieve.” Adam Searing, Chapel Hill Town Councilman (Daily
Tar Heel, March 24, 2022)
The
Town of Chapel Hill, NC, is planning to build about 275 housing units on
top of 60,000 tons of a toxic coal ash dump at 828 Martin Luther King
Boulevard. This violates the intent and spirit of The Coal Ash Management
Act of 2014. It ignores the health science that coal ash’s toxic metals can
cause cancer and death (Centers for Disease Control Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Toxicological Profiles https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/coalAsh.html#): It violates our fundamental right to
safety and health. We must prevent this deliberate and willfully
blind project which would put the health of children and families at risk of
contracting cancer or other serious health problems. Please join us.
I.
Overview
We
are one of many national, regional, and community advocacy groups who have not
yet been able to convince the Town to remove the coal ash.[1] No one
is listening to the science that coal ash causes cancer and even death. In
Mooresville and Huntersville, NC, two thyroid cancer clusters were found where
hundreds of homes were built on coal-ash infused “structural fill”. The Chapel Hill Town Council is not
listening; they voted 8-1 to proceed with the next stage of the project, and in
September, 2022, with all signs pointing to their approving it. The state
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is not listening. In fact, it took
them a full 11 weeks to answer public questions after their May 16th
public hearing, and then only after pressure on Region IV EPA. DEQ approves 98%
of all Brownfield projects. The Governor’s Office is not listening. The
University refuses to talk about it. We need your help to get them to listen
and to act to prevent a public health catastrophe. All they have
to do is remove the 60,000 tons of coal ash.
We
are not opposed to affordable housing. We are
opposed to people living on top of a coal ash dump. We do not want a
cancer cluster in the heart of our town. We also want to ensure environmental
justice for the low/moderate income citizens who would live there, and for
those who live in the public housing project across the street. We are running
out of time, though. Decisions are being made soon by the state Department of
Environmental Quality, and then the Town Council. Make your voice heard.
II.
The Chapel Hill Project & Its Many Risks
Chapel
Hill is proposing to have the developer Belmont Sayre build 275 units of
housing with 10-15% for low income people and people of color at 828 Martin
Luther King Boulevard on top of a 60,000 ton
coal ash dump, coal ash put there by UNC, Chapel Hill between 1950-late 1970s.
The Town purchased the 10 acre site in 1980,
apparently without due diligence to find out what was there. After the Duke
Energy coal ash spill at Dan River in 2014, the Town realized there was toxic
coal ash at this site. 1000 tons of coal ash were removed along Bolin Creek
Trail, though exposed coal ash still exists on the Police Department property
as of 5/13/22. The Town has approved a memorandum of understanding with the
developer to use the Department of Environmental Quality Brownfield Agreement
process to limit town liability for the health and environmental risks of coal
ash; they plan to remediate the site by putting about 3 feet of dirt over the
dump in what is known as a “cap and contain” strategy. There is substantial
risk to public health and safety with this project.
Facts About Coal Ash & Health, Safety & Environmental
Risks
·
16 Toxic Chemicals: There are 16 toxic chemicals in coal ash and fly ash,
including Arsenic, Boron, Mercury, Lead and Selenium—each one can cause damage
to our health and environment from cancer to death
·
Centers for Disease Control: These chemicals can cause
nervous system damage, cancers of several kinds, and death; “There is no safe
level of lead exposure, particularly for children.” Source: Centers
for Disease Control, Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR), Toxicological Profiles WWW.ATSDR.CDC.GOV/toxicprofiles
·
Physicians for Social Responsibility: If eaten, drunk, or inhaled,
these chemicals can cause cancers, cognitive deficits, developmental delays,
and behavioral problems, heart damage, lung disease, kidney disease,
reproductive problems and impaired bone growth in children. (Source: https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/coal-ash-hazardous-to-human-health.pdf)
·
Cancers and Deaths in Mooresville and Huntersville: Developers built hundreds of
homes on “structural fill” with coal ash in it. Two thyroid cancer clusters
in these two towns were discovered, likely leading to the deaths of 12 people.
Watch this video:
https://youtu.be/vxGDjrKPRWk; in 2018, severe weather exposed coal
ash at Lake Norman High School, resulting in about 25 students getting cancer
and 6 dying. Susan Wind, formerly of Mooresville, has a daughter who contracted
thyroid cancer while living on this coal ash; they moved to Florida and Susan
is now leading the national campaign against toxic waste
2014 North Carolina’s Coal Ash Management Act is Clear:
·
Structural
Fill Must Not Be:
o
Within
the 100-year floodplain
o
Within
4 feet of the seasonal high ground water table
o
Within
50-feet of a property boundary, wetland, bank of a perennial stream or surface
water body
o
Within
300-feet of a private dwelling or well
·
The Town says that the 828 coal
ash dump was created before 2014 and therefore legally the state’s rules don’t
apply. As Dr. Avner Vengosh, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science
at Duke University points out, all coal ash dumps across the nation were
created before 2014, making this “a bogus argument” on the Town’s part. In
addition, the Town has a duty and moral obligation to protect the health
of its citizens by using the 2014 standard.
Dr. Avner Vengosh, Coal Ash Scientist, Duke University—Risks
of Building on a Coal Ash Dump
·
Toxic Metals at
828 MLK: On Sept. 8, 2022, Dr. Vengosh
published a report citing 19 toxic metals in soil samples from 828 MLK Blvd,
including mercury, lead, arsenic, and radium 226.
·
1st
Risk of Coal Ash—To the Workers: During the
demolition and construction at the 828 site, as long
as the coal ash is there, there will be a substantial amount of coal ash dust
that is released, some in plumes coal fly ash dust that would be a health risk
to the workers as well as nearby neighborhoods; there is a public housing
project across the street
·
2nd
Risk of Coal Ash—To the People Who Would Live at 828 MLK: Soil Deterioration: if it is covered with 3-4’of dirt, it will not be stable long
term and will deteriorate, exposing coal ash to the people living there
o “Buried coal ash can be exposed,
as it was in Mooresville and Lake Norman High School”
o “Just putting dirt over it is not
enough protection against coal fly ash”
o “Weathering plays a major
role—covered coal ash is not stable”
o The topography of the steep slope to the creek also presents a
serious issue in terms of soil stability and degradation, exposing coal ash
(where we took the coal ash samples 8/1/22)
·
3rd
Risk of Coal Ash—Leaching of Coal Ash into the Water Supply:
o Up to 1 million people get their water from Jordan Lake; Bolin
Creek flows into Jordan Lake; coal ash is right now exposed on the steep slope
going down to the creek
o Coal ash could also definitely leach into the underground water
supply
o To prevent this would require a liner underneath the coal ash
o “Even if you close up all the
places where there is coal ash, covering it won’t prevent leaching which will
get into the ground water or the creek”
o The Town has no plan to put in a
liner
·
4th Risk
of Coal Ash—No Continuous Monitoring of the Soil and Stream?:
o Who would be responsible for monitoring it 20-30 years out?
o The residents won’t; the Town won’t; DEQ certainly won’t
·
Dr. Vengosh’s
Bottom Line: Not a Responsible Plan
·
“It is not responsible for the town to build on this site
without knowledge of all the risks”
·
“The Town officials are in total darkness about the
risks”
Dr. Julia Kravchenko, Duke School of Medicine
·
Dr. Kravchenko in 2018 published the results of a
comprehensive review of all the research studies on coal ash and
communities—113 of them
·
She found that exposure to coal can result in these
diseases: Premature death, lung cancer,
respiratory mortality, bronchitis and asthma in children, cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, low birth weight, and Infant mortality
·
“…coal ash can
impact human health at every stage of use—from the initial mining of coal to
the post-combustion disposal of coal ash.”
·
In 2021, she also
published definitive results in textbook chapter showing the relationships
between coal ash and its health impacts
Dr. Kristina Zierold, University of Alabama,
Birmingham—Health Risks for Children
·
Dr. Zierold is a leading coal ash scientist who has
conducted research on the health impacts of coal ash and fly ash on children
who live near coal ash dumps or plants
·
Health Risks to Children 6-14: Children who live in homes near
coal ash dumps/plants have significant neurobehavioral issues involving mental
health, depression, aggressiveness, ADHD, gastrointestinal problems,
degenerative diseases, and respiratory disease (particles can penetrate the
brain)
·
Health Risks to Residents at 828: Chapel Hill is going to build
housing on top of coal ash, increasing children’s and residents’
risk of exposure to fly ash. Dr. Zierold’s research on people even living
within the proximity of coal ash plants says: “Over the past 30 years,
scientists reported that the people living in close proximity to coal-fired
plants had higher rates of premature mortality…. respiratory disease and lung
cancer, cardiovascular disease, poorer child health, and higher infant
mortality.” (Health of Children Living Near Coal Ash, Sears, Zierold, Global
Pediatric Health, Vol. 4: 1-6, 2017)
·
Capped Coal Ash Risks: Capped dumps still produce dust and the possibility of
leaching into the water supply
Further Details About Chapel Hill’s Proposal
·
Coal ash was dumped at the 828 MLK site since the 1950s;
the Town bought the property in the 1980s; not until 2013 did they realize
there was toxic coal ash there
·
The coal ash came from the University of North Carolina’s
power plant. University officials have declined to comment on this issue
·
In 2020, the Town removed 1000 tons of coal ash near
Bolin Creek Trail based on State guidelines
·
Exposed coal ash still exists on the property and on the
Bolin Creek Trail as of May 13, 2022
·
Nick Torrey, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law
Center, a veteran of coal ash investigations and lawsuits, has expressed his
skepticism: “The long term concern is that covering
this ash with a layer of dirt…will not remove these risks…” (WRAL TV
Investigation, March, 2022)
·
“What we’ve urged all along is that the Town do the
maximum possible to protect people and to protect clean water, and that
includes being willing to commit to going beyond the minimum standards that the
state might allow for this project.” (Daily Tar Heel Editorial, April
19, 2022)
·
Adam Searing of the Town Council opposes the project, and
said there should be no housing built on this coal ash dump, and that the coal
ash should be removed.
The Hart & Hickman Consulting Study
·
Hart & Hickman, with Poyner Spruill, Fact Sheet,
2/25/22: https://www.townofchapelhill.org/residents/community-sustainability/coal-ash-disposal-site-remediation-project
o
Says that “coal ash can still be used as structural fill
today provided certain conditions are met and permits are obtained from the
State.” Note: The Coal Ash Management Act explicitly forbids structural
fill within 300 feet of a private dwelling
o
Says the coal ash is “almost completely covered” by the
police station and parking lot with “just a few small areas of uncovered ash
remaining along the steep site embankment”
o
Here is a picture of that “small area” as of 5/13/22. All
of the gray in this picture is coal ash:
o On August 1, 2022, Dr. Vengosh
and his team took 8 core samples from at least 2 different locations at 828
Martin Luther King Boulevard, and is analyzing them; their analysis will be
released by the end of August
o Hart & Hickman’s report says
this coal ash can be remediated by a retaining wall
o Says it would cost $13-15 million
to remove it with 5000 truck loads with considerable risk
o Earth Justice consultants have
estimated it would cost $2.5-10 million, or $42-83/ton
o The Town already removed 1000
tons in 2020; this removes the Town’s argument they can’t do remove the
remainder of the coal ash
·
The Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, DC, gave this
opinion on 5/16/22 from Abel Russ, Director of the Center for Applied Environmental
Science and a coal ash attorney:
o
The Hart & Hickman Risk Assessment shows that the
site is not safe for redevelopment as a residential property, and it fails to
show that the site is not adversely affecting local surface water.
o Risk estimates presented by Hart
& Hickman are too low. The true risks of redevelopment would be even higher
if the Risk Assessment were to fully account for all coal ash risk drivers
(boron, lithium, and molybdenum)
§ Boron was not analyzed at any
soil sample location, and was barely sampled in groundwater
§ The word “lithium” does not
appear in the Risk Assessment at all; neglects its harmful effects
§ The Risk Assessment was silent on
cobalt and radium, a carcinogenic radionuclide, was not in the Risk Assessment
Why Would the Mayor & Town Council Deliberately Do
This?
1.
Why would the Town of Chapel Hill deliberately
build housing on a toxic coal ash dump which could damage the health and
well-being of the people who would live there?
2.
Why won’t the Town remove it to protect the safety of our
children, their families, and all the people who walk along the Bolin Creek
Trail?