UNC Land Tract Needs Cleaning Before Buildup

By Ben Gatling

Staff Writer

The University has begun planning new construction in earnest as it prepares to put to use the more than $500 million it will receive from the higher education bond referendum.

But the University has some cleaning to do before it can begin work on the Horace Williams tract. The UNC-owned property, which houses many of Chapel Hill's municipal services, includes a former chemical waste dump and a former municipal landfill.

UNC is investigating the possibility of creating a research park on the Horace Williams tract similar to N.C. State University's Centennial Campus, which could include laboratories and shops.

Richard Miller, UNC's environmental manager, said the waste needs to be cleaned before building can begin. He said it could cost up to $40 million to clean up the two sites.

Miller said the Department of Chemistry and UNC Hospitals buried waste on a quarter-acre section of the property in the mid-1970s. He said the University kept detailed records of where the material was buried to make the waste easier to remove. "We'll have to take shovels and uncover the material like a treasure hunt," he said.

Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC used the approximately 30-acre landfill site from 1930 until 1972. Miller said unlike the chemical site, the entire former landfill does not necessarily need to be removed. "(The cleanup) all depends on what you are going to do with (Horace Williams)," he said.

But Miller said that if money were put toward cleaning up the two sites, construction could begin immediately. He said the waste removal would only take a year to complete.

Chapel Hill Town Manager Cal Horton said that despite the town's contributions to the landfill waste, the town will play no role in the cleanup. "(Chapel Hill) had some correspondence with the University several years ago about the site," he said. "But it's the University's property."

And echoing some town officials, environmental activists have chided the University for keeping the public in the dark.

Mark Marcoplos, a member of the environmental group Orange County Greens, said the University has a history of not telling the public about dangers at the site. "I don't see how anybody can say that there's no health risks," he said.

Miller said chemicals have seeped into the groundwater at Horace Williams. But he said the water is safe thanks to wells pumping the contaminated water and cleaning it.

Marcoplos said the University should accurately inform the community of what material was disposed of at the site.

"I don't think people really know what's in there or how the ingredients have interacted," he said. "(UNC officials) need to do the very best they can with a bad situation - clean it up."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.