Rep. Valerie Foushee visits NC superfund sites to celebrate federal funding for cleanup
Congresswoman Valerie Foushee was one of the special guests visiting two hazardous waste sites Monday, where she said cleanup efforts are a step forward for environmental justice.
"Many of these Superfund sites are located near low-income communities and communities of color," Foushee said.
More than $11.3 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will go towards the cleanup of the GMH Electronics site in Roxboro and the Cristex Drum site in Oxford. Both are part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program.
"This is one of the largest investments in our country’s history to help address legacy pollution," Foushee said, "Unfortunately, it can be costly to fully remediate these sites, and a lack of funding can often be a barrier on many of these projects."
The Cristex Drum site was added to the national Superfund priority list a decade ago after an investigation discovered high contamination from the plant in the soil and groundwater. From 1966 to 1986, Cristex operated as a warp-knit fabric mill that knitted, dyed, and finished nylon acetate Tricot.
"We prioritized our funding for those human health risk sites," said Jeff Crowley, a remedial project manager for the EPA. "[The Cristex site] is more of an ecological risk and future risk, so it didn’t get funding for a long time, and then when the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law came along we were able to pull those ecological sites off the shelf to clean up."
Crowley walked visitors around the site Monday, pointing out thousands of tires that had been left behind by a tenant.
"As we clear the site, we’re discovering things like a bunch of tires that will delay our cleanup because we have to get rid of that stuff first," Crowley said.
Once the land is cleared, the EPA will demolish the former Cristex building, which will take about six months. The foundation and ceiling contain asbestos and there is lead paint on the walls.
The soil is contaminated around the site as much as 20 feet deep. Once excavated, it will be shipped to a hazardous waste landfill for disposal.
The site also has groundwater contaminated with tetrachloroethylene or PCE, a toxic chemical.
The EPA plans to use a solvent to break down contaminants and a new technology, electrokinetic-in situ chemical oxidation (EK-ISCO). It's the first time the technology has been used at a public site.
"This new technology will allow us to do our normal process and pull the solvent through the contamination and speed up the cleanup," Crowley said. "It’s exciting," he added.
Granville County Commissioner Zelodis Jay, who visited the Cristex building Monday, is excited that the site's pollution is being addressed. He has a special connection to the site because he worked there in high school.
"It’s kinda sad and good going back to a place that I worked as my first job," Jay said. "Now, it's getting cleaned up so it can be useful again for the county."
The EPA estimates the cleanup will take 3-4 years to complete. After that, the agency will conduct periodic testing to see if further remediation efforts are needed.
