News

Timeline of Mud Creek dump

Yellow cross-hatched areas identify parts of Mud Creek dump where debris has been found.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 20, 2017

The Mud Creek dump covers at least 8 acres on a 39-acre site between Green Meadows and Mud Creek owned by the Hendersonville Housing Authority. The city held a drop-in public information meeting on Tuesday to describe the environmental assessment that has been done so far. The city’s consulting engineers, Hart & Hickman, and officials from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program were on hand to answer questions. Here is a timeline of the property and city and state agencies’ work on the issue since 2007:

1910-40: J.A. Rusher Sr. buys the property in as many as 200 different transactions.

March 1971: Hendersonville Leasing Housing Corp. buys the site from J.A. “Jake” Rusher Jr. for use as a low-income housing development.

January 1972: In a letter to the TVA, the Redevelopment Commission of Hendersonville says two sites — one 3, the other 9 acres — had been used for years as “semi-public dumping grounds receiving many types of refuse such as auto bodies, garbage, refrigerator bodies, scrap iron, etc.” Looking at ways to convert the land to a park and playground, the city told the TVA that its original urban renewal plan was to clear the dump in the low marshy area and cover it with fill from the rest of the construction site.

November 1972: Hendersonville Housing Authority buys the site from the Hendersonville Leasing Housing Corp.

December 2007: Consulting engineers Marshall Miller & Associates submit a 155-page report on Mud Creeks Dumps #1 and #2 to the Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch of the state Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. Its survey of the 39-acre area identifies an 8.3-acre dump site, which is enclosed by a chain-link fence.

April 2014 and June 2014: City discovers two “areas of concern” associated with the landfill during the Jackson Park sewer line construction. It hires the Charlotte-based environmental consulting firm Hart & Hickman to complete an assessment and provide oversight during excavation of the buried debris in the sanitary sewer right-of-way. Hart & Hickman issues a detailed Geophysical, Soil and Groundwater Assessment Report on August 6, 2014, and documents Drum Area Excavation on Aug. 18 and Dump Area Excavation on Sept. 23, 2014.

Oct. 20, 2014: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources notifies the city it is eligible for reimbursement of the cost of assessing Mud Creek Dump No. 1 and Dump No. 2 and developing a work plan. The city hires H&H to conduct assessment activities in accordance with the landfill unit’s guidelines. Based on an on-site review with the city and guidance from state landfill regulators, H&H developed a work plan and cost proposal for first phase remedial investigation activities.
February 2015-October 2016 — Hart & Hickman continues first phase remedial investigation and Waste Disposal Boundary Delineation and Surface Vapor Survey. The study area has expanded to 49 acres, up from the original 39-acre site. In February, Hart & Hickman and two other engineering firms estimate the first phase remedial investigation will cost $46,757.
February 2017 –Hart & Hickman submits a revised work plan to complete Waste Boundary Delineation, Landfill Gas Evaluation and Soil Cover Evaluation. The study area includes William H. King Memorial Park and Lincoln Center. The contractor will make 28 soil borings at 14 locations on property near the residential area and other private property. It will also install 10 permanent landfill gas probes to test for landfill gases underground. The city identifies 11 private properties for boring, including eight homeowners. Total cost of the assessment grew to $234,110.

March and April 2017: Private property owner access agreements obtained by Legal Department. Field work reveals landfill boundary encroaching on private property.

SOURCES: Marshall Miller & Associates report for N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (2007), Hart & Hickman assessments and reports (2014 to the present), City Engineer Brent Detwiler.