Ward Transformer plan poses dioxin risk to Raleigh

There was a worrisome story in this morning's New & Observer, which reported that the companies responsible for cleaning up PCB contamination at Raleigh's Ward Transformer Superfund site want to incinerate the waste there instead of shipping it away for treatment. The problem is, incineration would result in the release of additional toxic chemicals to the environment.

Ward Transformer is located at 6852 Mt. Herman Road, in a fast-developing area of northwest Raleigh near the junction of Glenwood Avenue and Northern Wake Expressway. The site lies about a mile east of the booming Brier Creek development, which includes luxury homes, condos, apartments, a retail shopping center, and Brier Creek Elementary School.

The incineration method the companies want to use is known as direct-fired thermal desorption. N&O reporter Wade Rawlins describes the process like this:

Contaminated soil is dug up and heated in a giant industrial dryer, similar to a clothes dryer, causing the pollutants to vaporize. In a second step, the PCB vapors are destroyed in an afterburner and the gases scrubbed and vented through a stack.

Sounds nifty, but there's a catch: The process results in emissions of public health concern, according to a 2002 review of thermal treatment technologies conducted by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Those emissions include toxic chemicals known as "products of incomplete combustion" or PICs (which include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), dioxins and furans, and metals. Among the metals that have been detected in the soil at the Ward site are arsenic, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, and zinc. Some of those are cause for worry when it comes to incineration, ATSDR says:

Arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, and chromium are metals sometimes found in wastes and stack emissions that because of their carcinogenicity could be of health concern.

On the potential for additional dioxin contamination (dioxins are already among the site's contaminants), the story quotes Jim Sherman, industrial toxicologist and member of the citizens task force monitoring the Ward cleanup:

"There is absolutely no doubt there will be dioxins created, and those dioxins will be distributed in the community," Sherman said. "The quantity of dioxins emitted are not likely to pose a cancer risk great enough to pose a real health concern."

But what Sherman doesn't say in the story -- what no one says -- is that cancer is not the only health concern related to dioxin exposure.

Dioxins bioaccumulate -- that is, they build up in bodies over time. Humans are exposed to them primarily by eating high on the food chain -- things like beef, pork, dairy products and fish -- thereby ingesting what's accumulated in the creatures' bodies. Environmental dioxin contamination, as of soils in contaminated yards and gardens, is an additional source of exposure. The EPA itself acknowledges that dioxin is likely to cause cancer. But the documented health effects of dioxin exposure in humans include a host of other problems, including thyroid disorders, immune system impairment, endometriosis, birth defects, and diabetes. Meanwhile, studies of lab animals exposed to dioxin have found increased rates of liver, lung and thyroid cancer.

Is there a potential for public exposure at Ward? Obviously. Tests of waters downstream from the site -- which is located along a stream in a previously undeveloped wetland -- have found widespread PCB contamination. Consequently, the state has issued fish consumption advisories for Little Brier Creek downstream of Brier Creek Parkway, the creek's tributaries, Brier Creek Reservoir, Lake Crabtree, and Crabtree Creek. Once a popular public fishing spot, Lake Crabtree has been operating under a catch-and-release policy since November 2005 because of the high levels of PCB pollution in the fish.

The companies considering the incineration option -- including Raleigh-based Progress Energy -- are expected to come up with their final workplan in the "next few weeks," says EPA spokesperson Laura Niles. But at this point, it's still not too late for citizens concerned about onsite incineration to weigh in. Though the workplan is not subject to a formal comment process, Niles says people may share their thoughts with her agency.

"If there's great public concern, we'll address that," she tells Raleigh Eco News.

People may contact either Remedial Project Manager Luis Flores at flores.luis@epa.gov or Community Involvement Coordinator Angela Miller at miller.angela@epa.gov, says Niles. They can also be reached on EPA's toll-free line at 800-241-1754.

Governor proposes stricter regulation of hazardous waste

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley on Friday announced a set of proposals designed to better protect neighborhoods from hazardous waste facilities and to help local communities better respond in case of an emergency.

The proposals were developed by a task force Easley appointed in the wake of the Oct. 5 explosion and fire at the EQ Industrial Services' hazardous waste storage facility in Apex, N.C.

Easley has ordered the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to evaluate the location, design and operating requirements for commercial hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities and recommend changes. He is also directing the Division of Waste Management to provide inspection reports and compliance orders for hazardous waste facilities to local emergency response agencies and to invite local fire marshals to accompany division inspectors on annual hazardous waste facility inspections.

In addition, the governor will propose legislation in the next session of the General Assembly to tighten state laws regulating the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous waste and licensing of hazardous waste sites. The legislation would:

* Require hazardous waste treatment storage and disposal facilities to provide insurance so they can pay for cleanup and off-site screening for potential contamination in the event of a release;

* Require all applicants for commercial hazardous waste facility permits to seek local government input on plans for response to emergencies at the proposed sites;

* Require facilities to have around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week security with either an electronic system or trained security personnel who meet state standards;

* Require facility operators to make information on the types of waste on the site accessible to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, local governments and emergency responders from off-site sources;

* Include changes in the land use and population of neighborhoods around a hazardous waste facility as criteria for determining the frequency of inspections of the sites; and

* Authorize state emergency response agencies to seek reimbursement for deployment costs when dispatched in a hazardous waste emergency.

Furthermore, Easley will consider funding in his 2007-08 state budget proposals to:

* Develop a computerized system to report the items being stored by facilities that handle hazardous materials and toxic chemicals;

* Increase funding for the state’s seven Hazardous Materials Regional Response Teams; and

* Provide funding for public health planning and response-related training for emergency responders to a chemical, biological or radiological contamination accident.

For more details, see the governor's Dec. 15 announcement here.

N.C. State team wins national green building contest

A team of student designers from N.C. State University was one of three that took first place at the U.S. Green Building Council's Natural Talent Design Competition held last month in Denver, according to an announcement from Advanced Energy.

The members of the North Carolina's winning team were Andrew Darab, Frank Giordano, Eric Jabaley, K.C. Kurtz and Susan Ungerleider. They represented the state in the national competition after winning the N.C. Sustainable Building Design Competition coordinated by Advanced Energy and the Triangle chapter of Emerging Green Builders. The team was guided by Tom Barrie, director of the School of Architecture at N.C. State, and Randy Lanou of the Durham-based firm BuildSense.

The winning design is currently being constructed by N.C. Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Catawba Valley, Chatham County and Orange County. It integrates sustainable design strategies including passive-solar and energy-efficient elements while preserving affordability, with materials costing $46 per square foot.

N&O details hazmat handling problems in North Carolina

The Raleigh News & Observer ran an important story on Sunday about "a series of dangerous handling errors at chemical depots around the state." The piece was the latest in the paper's series of stories about hazmat safety issues since the Oct. 5 explosion and fire at the EQ Industrial Services facility in Apex, N.C.

Reporters Toby Coleman and Wade Rawlins used regulators' files to document waste handling errors at three N.C. companies. Besides EQ, which from July 2004 to December 2005 was cited for eight waste-handling problems at its Apex facility, they are the Ashland warehouse in Charlotte, cited for nine storage mistakes in the past six years, and Heritage Environmental Services, another Charlotte company that was cited for seven storage and handling errors at its warehouse.

Chemical storage problems are potentially disastrous, as illustrated by the Apex incident, in which fire may have been started by a reaction between incompatible wastes. Compounding the problem is the reality that such facilities are often located near residential neighborhoods, child care centers or churches -- and nearby residents are often unaware of the potential hazards in their midst.