P.O. Box 187 Bynum NC 27228
(919) 542-5790
info@hawriver.org
April 2, 2015
Mr. Craig Brown
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Office
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105
Wake Forest, NC 27587
Dear Mr. Brown:
The Haw River Assembly is a non-profit organization that has been working since 1982. to
protect the Haw River and Jordan Lake in the Upper Cape Fear basin and to safeguard water
quality for the communities that live in this watershed.
We wish to comment on the application from Green Meadows, LLC seeking Department of the
Army authorization to discharge fill material into 1.14 acres of jurisdictional headwater and
riparian wetlands, 4,166 linear feet of jurisdictional intermittent and perennial streams, along
with 0.50 acre of isolated wetlands non-jurisdictional wetlands, associated with coal ash
repositories to be located at the Brickhaven and Sanford (Colon) Mines in Chatham and Lee
Counties, North Carolina.
A portion of the 301 acre permitted area of the Brickhaven Mine site, located off MoncureFlatwood Road, drains to Shaddox Creek, a tributary of the Haw River, and the site is near Haw
River Assembly members living in the southeast Chatham County Moncure and Brickhaven
communities. We have many questions and concerns about negative impacts that both of these
proposed coal ash repositories could have on surface and groundwater, public health and safety,
and destruction of wildlife and the environment. We do not believe the cumulative impacts of the
coal ash on downstream waters has been sufficiently looked at. Downstream from both these
clay mine sites, the Cape Fear River is used as a drinking water source for many municipalities,
and is also habitat for the federally listed endangered species, the Cape Fear shiner, and other
threatened species and species of concern.
We are asking at this time that a public hearing be held on this 404 permit so that the
public has the opportunity to discuss openly the many concerns they have.
Among our many concerns and questions are the following:
Groundwater contamination: It is a fact that all liners will eventually degrade and leak, and
some much sooner, due to improper installation or breaches. The applicant states in the draft 404
permit that "The proposed HDPE liner is designed to industry standards and has an expected life
of 500+ years". However, the December 16, 2014 letter from David Cox, NC Wildlife
Resources Commission to NC Land Quality Section concerning the Green Meadows mining
permit gives a very different picture of the durability and risks of these liners, "...the liners have
an estimated safe life of 80 to 100 years if no mechanical stress is induced (Reddy, 1999). If
either of these occurs, aquatic and terrestrial wildlife resources can be exposed to coal
combustion products or its constituents through direct contact with contaminated soil or surface
water, or through ingestion of contaminated plants, soils, or aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates."
And what about human exposure to contamination? Is there a plan for baseline monitoring of
neighbors' drinking water wells in an area surrounding the mine site? Both the Brickhaven and
Colon Rd. clay pits are within the Deep River shale basin, with its very fractured underlying
geology including diabase dikes. Has there been consideration of what the impacts of fracking in
the area could mean to long term stability of these coal ash repositories and cumulative impacts
on water quality?
Impacts on Surface waters:
The 404 permit would allow impacts and destruction to 2662 linear feet of stream and .45 acres
of wetlands in the Brickhaven site alone. Mitigation in form of payment to a fund for stream
restoration elsewhere will not mitigate the damage being done to these streams, and the habitat
that relies on them.
Three miles of Gulf Creek, downstream from the Brickhaven clay pit, has been on the EPA's
303(d) impaired waters list since 1998 and 2000, down to the confluence with the Cape Fear
River. A tributary of Gulf Creek flows through the Brickhaven clay mining site where coal ash
would be brought The current 2014 listing
shows that Gulf Creek is exceeding fresh
water quality standards due to "Poor Fish
Community" and "Narrative Standard" (2014
NC 303(d) List -Category 5 Final December
19, 2014, page 16). Given that Gulf Creek
constantly runs the color of the clay mining
site it is draining, we assume this means the
turbidity narrative standard for sediment is
being exceeded (photo at right, taken by
HRA in January 25, 2015).
We are very concerned that some of the coal
ash that will be encapsulated at the
Brickhaven site (as well as at the Sanford
site) will eventually end up downstream into
the Cape Fear River adding to the current
sediment load and coal ash wastewater from
the Moncure Coal Plant ash storage ponds.
The stormwater retention systems, berm
heights and sediment ponds are all based on
engineering designs that assume weather
patterns based on the past. We face a very
unknown future due to climate change, and
the likelihood of more frequent and severe storms should be considered for these plans. Failure
or overtopping of the berms or breaching of the containment of the coal ash could lead to
massive pollution of the Cape Fear River. The 8 million tons of ash planned for internment at
this site will be in addition to the millions of tons of coal ash currently sitting in ponds next to the
Moncure Coal Ash plant less than 2 miles away. If a hurricane or other major storm were to
damage or destroy the berms and other containment at both sites, it would have a devastating
impact to the Cape Fear River and the downstream water users. Downstream water systems who
take their source water from the Cape Fear River include Sanford, Harnett County (which
supplies Lillington, Angier, Ft. Bragg, Holly Springs, and Fuquay-Varina), Dunn, Fayetteville,
and Brunswick County (including Wilmington).
Air Pollution:
We have seen estimates that moving 8 million tons of coal ash to the Brickhaven site could
require 400,000 truckloads or 120,000 train car loads. The transport of this huge amount of coal
ash will most certainly mean measurable amounts of coal ash residue along roadsides and in
yards, and which could become a significant air pollutant to those living along the transport
routes. Will transport vehicles be required to have closed and covered containers? Who will
monitor and regulate this? Who will monitor air quality to ensure public safety?
Wildlife and Environmental Concerns:
Outside of the mined areas at the Brickhaven site, there are mixed pine/hardwood forests and
oak hickory streams and wetlands, as well as abandoned sediment basins that have become
wetland habitat. The permit application by Green Meadows LLC shows that large excavations
would be made beyond the current mined areas, destroying considerable wildlife habitat.
Among the concerns in the December 16, 2014 letter from NC Wildlife Resources Commission
was the need for greater stream buffers; water monitoring for additional constituents (aluminum,
boron and mercury), longer post closure care of the site; dust control; and questions about types
of chemicals that might be used onsite for dust suppressants and sediment control flocculants that
could be toxic to fish and wildlife.
We also believe the issue of whether these two clay mine areas at Brickhaven and Sanford
(Colon) will be "mine reclamation" as claimed by Green Meadows, or are actually coal ash
landfills, needs to be resolved. The proposed excavation of currently un-mined land; the
proposed finished height of the encapsulated coal ash at above grade of the surrounding land;
and the prohibition of mechanical stress on top of the finished "reclamation" in order to preserve
the integrity of the coal ash liners, would make these areas unsuitable for any developmentThis is
a coal ash landfill and should be permitted and regulated as that, and new EPA guidelines should
be in play. We do not believe US ACE should issue a 404 permit until this issue is resolved.
Endangered Species:
We believe that the proposed project may impact federally listed endangered or threatened
species or their formally designated critical habitat, and that the Corps should initiate
consultation under Section 7 of the ESA and not make a permit decision until the consultation
process is complete.
In the December 16, 2014 letter referenced above, the Division of Wildlife Resources discussed
terrestrial and aquatic species that could be impacted from the Brickhaven site. Tributaries of
Shaddox Creek drain this site, and flow into the Haw River just before it's confluence with the
Cape Fear River. Tributaries of Gulf Creek also flow into the nearby Cape Fear River, habitat for
recorded populations of the federal and state endangered Cape Fear Shiner, as well as federal
species of concern and state threatened yellow lampmussel, Carolina redhorse, Roanoke
slabshell, and other state and federal species of concern. The Cape Fear/McKay Island Natural
Heritage area is just downstream of the Brickhaven site just above the confluence of Gulf Creek
and the Cape Fear River. To say that these species will not be impacted because they are not
within the project site is incorrect, since waters from these tributaries -and any pollution they
carry- will flow into the Cape Fear River and into the critical habitat for the species listed above.
Disposal of leachate:
Coal ash leachate is likely to contain high levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead,
mercury, cadmium, chromium, selenium, aluminum, antimony, barium, beryllium, boron,
bromide, chlorine, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, thallium, vanadium, and zinc. Some
coal ash also contains radioactive materials. Despite collection of leachate, some will eventually
reach groundwater as the liners disintegrate over time. The leachate that is collected will need to
be taken to a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The heavy metals and other constituents of
coal ash leachate can interfere with the wastewater treatment plant, and create new problems and
costs that are borne by those municipalities. Among these pollutants are the bromides from the
coal plant scrubber, which can become a constituent of the fly ash "The lack of regulations for
bromides can be a problem, said Tom Boyd, a senior environmental specialist at the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources. Boyd, who works with drinking-water plants in
northwest North Carolina, said coal plants send their scrubber waste to wastewater treatment
systems, but that those systems often fail to remove the bromide. “Sadly, it’s passing through
into the waters of the state,” he said. Boyd, like Hoffmann, noted that North Carolina does not
control bromide releases into streams or rivers. “It’s a non-regulated chemical,” he said.(
http://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2014/04/07/coal-waste-may-cause-carcinogen-spikesin-drinking-water/) The Cape Fear River already has highly elevated levels of bromide.
Cumulative Impact:
Given the very real chance that there will be contamination of both surface waters and
groundwaters from these proposed coal ash repositories, the pollution that would flow
downstream into the Cape Fear River would be in addition to the current coal ash wastewater
seepage into the Cape Fear River from the ash ponds at the Duke Energy Moncure Coal Ash
plant in this same stretch of river. Gulf Creek is already on the EPA 303(d) list and would be
further degraded by any increased sedimentation from excavation and construction at the
Brickhaven clay pits, as well as any coal ash pollution.
In summary, we request a public hearing be held on this 404 permit, and that the permit
should not be issued until all concerns and questions have been adequately addressed.
Sincerely,
Elaine Chiosso,
Haw Riverkeeper