By Ben Gatling
Staff Writer
The University has begun planning new construction in earnest as it prepares to put to use the more than $500 million it will receive from the higher education bond referendum.
But the University has some cleaning to do before it can begin work on the Horace Williams tract. The UNC-owned property, which houses many of Chapel Hill's municipal services, includes a former chemical waste dump and a former municipal landfill.
UNC is investigating the possibility of creating a research park on the Horace Williams tract similar to N.C. State University's Centennial Campus, which could include laboratories and shops.
Richard Miller, UNC's environmental manager, said the waste needs to be cleaned before building can begin. He said it could cost up to $40 million to clean up the two sites.
Miller said the Department of Chemistry and UNC Hospitals buried waste on a quarter-acre section of the property in the mid-1970s. He said the University kept detailed records of where the material was buried to make the waste easier to remove. "We'll have to take shovels and uncover the material like a treasure hunt," he said.
Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC used the approximately 30-acre landfill site from 1930 until 1972. Miller said unlike the chemical site, the entire former landfill does not necessarily need to be removed. "(The cleanup) all depends on what you are going to do with (Horace Williams)," he said.
But Miller said that if money were put toward cleaning up the two sites, construction could begin immediately. He said the waste removal would only take a year to complete.