P.O. Box 187 Bynum NC 27228
(919) 542-5790
info@hawriver.org
May 14, 2015
Jennifer Burdette
NC DENR 401 Permitting,
1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1617
Dear Ms. Burdette:
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 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 nonjurisdictional 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.
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 Cape Fear 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 12 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 Cape Fear 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 12 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 development. This
is a coal ash landfill and should be permitted and regulated as that, and no permit should be
issued until the new EPA guidelines are in play. We do not believe the state should issue a 401
Water Quality Certification 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 Army Corps of Engineers should
initiate consultation under Section 7 of the ESA and not make a permit decision until the
consultation process is complete, nor should 401 Certification be issued.
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 Cape Fear 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 do not believe that you should issue a 401 Water Quality Certification for this
project given the many concerns and questions that have been raised. We beleive there are safer
and better solutions for long term disposal or re-use of coal ash. This coal ash disposal system is
not mine reclamation nor will it have beneficial use. Rathe,r it is a coal ash landfill that will
degrade groundwater quality when (not if) the liners finally fail.
Sincerely,
Elaine Chiosso,
Haw Riverkeeper