Raleigh Municipal Problems For more than four years, the NRF upstream office has been investigating (and working to fix) problems discovered at Raleighs sewage treatment plant and more recently Raleighs Water Treatment Plant. Recently, one of our members recently discovered RPU had begun to withhold potentially damaging information from their monthly reports, information that had previously been available to the public. NC Division of Water Quality files also revealed the state is now seriously considering reopening Raleighs Water Treatment Plant permit for review, which is highly unusual. In May of 2006, the N&O also reported that for more than six years Raleigh Utilities Director Dale Crisp withheld information from city leaders that Raleighs $15 million dollar ozone systeman important treatment process for clean drinking waterwas never installed correctly, has never properly worked and may never work properly with out significant and costly repairs. Raleigh rate payers will likely have to accept that they financed a $15 million dollar boondoggle or pay millions more to fix the failed ozone system. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker recently contacted NRF to inform us that the Raleigh City Council has directed the City Attorneys office to conduct its own investigation of problems at the water treatment plant. NRF remains committed to eliminating this discharge to Falls Lake.
NRF Wins Upstream Reclassification Fight Many thanks to the dozens of NRF members and supporters who submitted comments to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) opposing Raleighs efforts to downgrade water quality protections for the Neuse River. Raleigh proposed to reclassify the upper Neuse River (from Falls Dam to Capitol Blvd) from a Water Supply watershed (WS) IV (with restrictions controlling stormwater runoff ) to a WS V. The downgrading of water quality protections would have eliminated non-point source and stormwater pollution control requirements by the state. This particular section of the Neuse River, which has relatively good water quality and a productive fishery, has been choked with sedimentation pollution and stormwater runoff from nearby construction in recent years. On September 14, the EMC ruled to against the proposed reclassification. Your public comments really helped make a difference for the Neuse River.
PCB Contamination: What You Should Know
What are PCBs? The manufacturing of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was stopped in the U.S. in 1977 because of evidence they build up in the environment and can cause harmful health effects. Before 1977, PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment because they do not burn easily and are good insulators. Common household products manufactured before 1977 that may contain PCBs include fluorescent lighting fixtures and electrical devices and appliances, such as televisions and refrigerators.
PCBs are a mixture of up to 209 individual chemicals, combined to form oily liquids or solids that are colorless to light yellow, have no known smell or taste, and can exist as a vapor in the air. They do not break down readily and thus remain in the environment for long periods of time, traveling long distances in the air and sticking to organic particles and bottom sediments in water, as well as binding strongly to soil.
When manufacturing was stopped in the United States, the damage had already been done; PCBs had entered the air, water, and soil during their manufacturing, use, and disposal, from accidental spills and leaks during their transport, and from leaks or fires in products containing PCBs. Also, they were released into the environment from hazardous waste sites, illegal or improper disposal of industrial wastes and consumer products, such as the Ward Transformer Site in Raleigh, NC (scroll down for more information on the Ward Transformer Site), leaks from old electrical transformers, and burning of some wastes in incinerators. How does this affect living organisms? One of the biggest detriments of PCBs has been to our water sources, where small organisms and fish are exposed through contact and ingestion. As PCBs accumulate in fish and other marine animals, levels of PCBs reach up to 1000 times higher than in the water. When other animals, including humans, consume these aquatic organisms, they will also be consuming traces of PCBs.
Warning Fish Advisory AVISO DE PESCADO
Location: Crabtree Creek, Wake County, just below Lake Crabtree to where it enters the Neuse River Pollutant: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Advisory: High levels of PCBs have been found in carp, catfish, and largemouth bass from these waters. Limit consumption of these fish from Crabtree Creek to no more than one meal per month. Date Issued: 3/31/06 ________________________________________ Location: Brier Creek, Wake County (downstream of Brier Creek Reservoir), Lake Crabtree, Wake County Pollutant: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Advisories: Brier Creek - High levels of PCBs have been found in the fish. Do not eat any fish from Brier Creek. Lake Crabtree - Do not eat carp or catfish from Lake Crabtree. Limit consumption of all other fish from Lake Crabtree to no more than one meal per month. When in doubt about the fish species, do not eat any of the fish. Date Issued: 5/7/04 ________________________________________ Location: Little Brier Creek, Wake County (downstream of Brier Creek Parkway), tributaries to Little Brier Creek, and Brier Creek Reservoir Pollutant: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Advisory: High levels of PCBs have been found in the fish. Do not eat any fish from Little Brier Creek (downstream of Brier Creek Parkway), its tributaries, and Brier Creek Reservoir. Date Issued: 12/8/03
The Ward Transformer Site & PCBs
Located near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Mount Herman Road, the Ward Transformer Site encompasses an active transformer reconditioning facility constructed in 1964. Transformers are electrical devices that transfer energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling, and Ward was responsible for building, repairing, and storing them. However, during their operation of the site numerous companies, including Progress Energy, arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances, transformers, switchgear, and other types of electrical equipment containing hazardous substances onto the site.
Along with the disposal of hazardous substances from other companies, Ward's method of handling PCB-laced oil from transformers was beginning to raise questions. Eventually, as a result of Ward Transformers involvement in the release of used oil containing PCBs along roadsides in North Carolina, the EPA and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) began an investigation of the site in 1978. They found PCB contamination in the soil at the Ward Transformer site, in the water and sediment of the storm water lagoon, and in the water and sediments along the surface water pathway draining the facility. On April 30, 2003, the Ward Transformer Site was officially added to the The National Priorities List (NPL), a list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program.
However, contamination is more widespread than initially suspected-100,000 tons of PCB contaminated soil is in need of treatment, as well as countless gallons of water that has been polluted downstream from the Site and contaminated fish in Lake Crabtree, Crabtree Creek, Brier Creek and Brier Creek Reservoir. In the fall of 2005, the estimated cost of cleanup for the site itself was $5.2 million. This estimate, which did not include the cost of water cleanup, was expected to increase.
