The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has made an agreement with the Town of Chapel Hill to redevelop land that used to belong to the town’s police department.

The land at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. has a large mound of toxic coal ash, which is a product of power plants, is made up of metals like arsenic, lead and mercury — all of which have been proven to cause serious health issues.

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Long-term exposure to the ash can lead to an increased risk of chronic respiratory issues, behavioral issues and cancers, research shows.

Specifically, the town and state agreed to a Brownsfield agreement. It means the state agrees not to sue the developer while the developer makes the site suitable for the reuse proposed.

The Brownfields agreement provides the flexibility for the town of Chapel Hill to safely redevelop the property for non-residential use and incorporate a final remedy to address the coal ash present at the site. The town was considering whether to build affordable housing at the site.

After considering public input submitted during the comment period and public meeting, DEQ’s Division of Waste Management Brownfields Redevelopment Section made changes to the final agreement, including:

  • Clarifying the requirement for groundwater monitoring
    • Carifying the definition of “recreational use” to uses that are contemplated for the Brownfields Property, removing uses that would not be feasible at this site, including playgrounds.
      • Referring to the town “acquiring” the Brownfields Property rather than to a “purchase.”

        Upon execution of the Brownfields agreement by the town, it will be publicly recorded and in effect. The decision on how specifically to remedy the site will be made under a separate town process, according to the DEQ.

        The pollution has been on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for 50 years or longer, according to town officials. Much of the 10-acre piece of land was used as a trash pit where residents and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill dumped waste.

        Even though the town acquired the land in the 80s, officials only recently discovered how much radioactive material was in their possession. The land is filled with more than 60,000 cubic yards of coal ash — enough to fill roughly 18 Olympic swimming pools — according to a 2017 estimate by a town contractor.