BURLINGTON, N.C. — Engineers from the US Army have started the giant cleanup job at the old Tarheel Army Missile Plant. Federal contractors found contaminated soil on the plant and in the surrounding neighborhood.
The report found that water and soil contain levels of cancer-causing chemicals. As part of cleanup efforts, the US Department of Defense must install a barrier to prevent any more contamination.
The City of Burlington said the cleanup job is tricky because of who owns the land. The Dept. of Defense owned the property for nearly eight decades. It later sold the land to a private company. The city said the government must clean up anything underground at the site, and the landlord is responsible for anything above ground.
The city said cleaning up the facility has been a long process, with several roadblocks over the years.
Jim Butler, the City of Burlington's Mayor said Western Electric's site in Burlington has been sitting on contaminated soil for years, "it has always been a contaminated property."
Mayor Butler said complaints have been pouring in regarding the site for the past two decades.
Miguel Garcia has lived right next to the site for 20 years. He said he is worried about the contamination.
"I like this house, I like this place, you know, this is my crib, this is my house, you know… I love it here but I worry. Yes, I worry," said Garcia. '
Mayor Butler said talk of clean up efforts really picked up in 2022, while the city is not responsible for the mess, he said the city played a major roll in getting clean up efforts started.
The U.S. Army and previous property owners are responsible since the city does not own the land.
"The primary contamination is soil. That's what we're most concerned about and as elected leaders and good stewards of our community, we were concerned about, 'is there a human health risk?'" Mayor Butler said.
According to a report from a federal contractor, water and soil in the area contains toxic chemicals. The city said its not known if there is a threat to anyone.
As for now, soil is being removed and replaced and more research is being done on the water.
Mayor Butler says continued research will take place over the next 15 to 18 months by the U.S. Army and NC Department of Environmental Quality at this time, there is no telling when clean up efforts will be complete.
Leaders said they want to hear from people in the area and the city about what they want to see done with the site. It asked people to share their thoughts here.
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