UNC waste cleanup will block street

Mysterious gas cylinders to be removed today from disposal site near airport

CHAPEL HILL -- UNC-Chapel Hill will take precautions during cleanup at a chemical waste disposal site today after the discovery of several small compressed gas cylinders at the site.

The safety measures will block access to Municipal Drive from Martin Luther King Boulevard. That will affect operations for at least part of the day at the Orange County Animal Shelter as well as the university's Carolina North office.

The cylinders are expected to be packed and shipped off site by a private contractor this afternoon.

"We believe any risk to nearby neighbors and the general public is remote, but we are taking these steps as precautionary measures," said Mary Beth Koza, director of the UNC Department of Environment, Health and Safety.

The discovery was made this week during remediation of the site, which began in April as part of a state-approved plan. Contractors uncovered 17 small cylinders. Koza said officials do not know what is in them. They do not match the previously known inventory of contents at the site.

Clean Harbors, a nationally recognized contractor, is handling the removal.

"Although the small quantity does not require any specific notification, we felt it important to let the community know of this change in site conditions and what steps we are taking," Koza said.

UNC-CH used the 0.2-acre site between 1973 and 1979 to bury laboratory chemical waste generated by the campus and what was then N.C. Memorial Hospital, using accepted and legal disposal methods of that era. The university obtained authorization to dispose of waste at the site from the state authority overseeing waste disposal at that time. The site does not appear on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund national priority list.

The university is remediating the site as part of a voluntary program with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In 2003, UNC-CH agreed that its cleanup of the source of the contamination would be completed no later than eight years after signing the agreement. Citizens had opportunities to share their comments and ask questions at a community meeting March 5.