In the summer of 1978, more than 30,000 gallons of waste transformer oil laced with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) was illegally dumped along road shoulders in 14 North Carolina counties. The dumping affected a stretch of roadway that sources describe as either 210 or 243 noncontiguous miles. The EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) added the site to its National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 because of the resulting soil contamination.
Investigators found that PCBs had contaminated roadside soil but had not spread to surface water, groundwater, or living organisms. The cleanup focused on physically removing that contaminated soil. Workers took out roughly 40,000 cubic yards of material from the highway shoulders between 1982 and 1983. That soil went into a specially built landfill, which was then capped, graded, and replanted with vegetation. The highway shoulders were rebuilt once the contaminated material was gone. Federal and state funds paid for the work.
By 1986, the EPA determined that all appropriate cleanup steps had been completed and that no further action by responsible parties was needed. The site was deleted from the NPL on March 7, 1986. Human exposure is considered under control, meaning there are no unacceptable exposure pathways. All cleanup goals for current and reasonably anticipated future land uses have been met, and the site is ready for its anticipated use. The EPA does not expect additional cleanup work and does not require periodic Five-Year Reviews for this site.
Community members who have questions can contact one of the EPA's three Remedial Project Managers. For documents not covered by the site's public record, residents can contact the Regional Freedom of Information Officer at EPA Region 4 in Atlanta at (404) 562-9891, or submit a written request to SNAFC Building, 61 Forsyth Street S.W., 9th Floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
