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Town faces Lot 5 cleanup

Posted on April 11, 2007April 12, 2007 by Staff

 

Source: ECS Carolinas / Citizen Graphic by Michelle Langston

By Taylor Sisk
Staff Writer

The Town of Chapel Hill has released the results of an environmental assessment on downtown Parking Lot 5, along with an initial estimated cost of cleanup for the site of $232,000.

A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and Limited Soil Delineation study was conducted last month by ECS Carolinas LLP. According to ECS’s cover letter to the 100-page assessment, “Based on approximate measurements of the property boundary and sample locations, ECS has estimated that approximately 8,600 cubic yards (~13,000 tons assuming 1.5 tons per cubic yard) of petroleum-impacted soil may be present at the site. This is a preliminary estimate only; the actual quantity of potentially impacted soils may vary based on conditions observed during soil excavation.”

Town officials said the assessment confirms no underground gasoline tanks and limited sections of petroleum-impacted soil that will require remediation. Under the plan for development of the Lot 5 project, the town assumes the costs for remediation, and the developer will fund the excavation.

The release of the assessment follows last week’s announcement that Town Manager Roger Stancil has concluded negotiations and executed a development agreement for the town-owned property with Ram Development Co. The project is to include 137 condominiums, an underground parking garage and 27,000 square feet of public space.

In a statement accompanying the environmental assessment, Stancil said the project is an example of the town’s commitment to develop “brownfield” sites rather than sprawling into the town’s remaining greenspaces.

Results of the assessment indicate the presence of two “anomalies.” The first was defined as “a potential metal vault approximately 8 feet by 10 feet in area.” The second is thought “to potentially be a buried concrete slab with metal reinforcement.”

With unavoidable resonations of Geraldo Rivera’s Al Capone vault uncovering, it’s no surprise that the unidentified-object revelations would gather attention in the blogosphere. Local blogger and activist Will Raymond is sponsoring a guess-the-anomalies contest on his Citizen Will site.

1 thought on “Town faces Lot 5 cleanup”

  1. CitizenWill says:
    April 12, 2007 at 6:29 am

    That’s right Taylor, I’m hosting a contest to “guess” what’s in the vault (or even to guess if it’s a vault or not).

    Each participant gets two (2) guesses: a “real” one on the contents of the vault (or what the “vault” really is) and a “creative” guess.

    The real guess will be graded on accuracy, the “creative” guess on breadth and depth of one’s imagination.

    Prizes for each are $150 donation to the local organization/charity of your choice and a dinner for two at La Rez (kindly provided by former BOA candidate Katrina Ryan).

    To enter just post a comment here.

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