Migration of soil vapors to indoor air
This graphic depicts how the chemicals found in the soil effects residents in the area.
Stack effects
i r
\ Wind
> effects
ppBH_L_L?_
[ I Utility line B
\ 'i*
? ^
Vapor intrusion /
through floor-wall
cracks A
? 4 r
* (
4 Silt
/
. Vapor intrusion
T throughcracks in
I foundation slab
Water table
J
* N
Soil vapor migration
;.:pT " ''
Soil contaminated with vocs
^Groundwater
plume of VOCs
The Chronicle
Source: www.hicap.com, Residents Hanes Lowrance
Neighbors
from page Al
the soil and remove the vapors. In the
meantime, the city will be doing its own
testing to see just how far the contamina
tion goes.
"Our goal is to get new data to depict
what's going on south of 28th street," Huff
said. "Our goal is to move to the south (of
Kaba Deo and Hanes/Lowrance)."
The city will sample the groundwaters,
soil, soil vapor, surface water and the
drinking water system in areas south of
28th street. The permanent weUs will be
placed by Griffith Enterprises Inc., a con
sultant of the city, and die city from 28th
Streel on down.
"I got the results for the drinking
water," Huff said. "That has been sampled
by a certified lab, and there have been no
detections whatsoever. They came back
clean."
The entire process will take a couple of
months. There will be a two-inch well put
in by a geo-probe system. The work began
on April 1.
"We will come back periodically to get
the information that we need," Huff said.
"We will submit all this data to NCDENR
toxicologist."
The information collected would be
submitted to the N.C. DENR toxicologist
for review and risk interpretation. The
report would determine if there is any
present risk to the residents in the area.
"If there are elevated levels that pass
the screening levels, we will ask for a
remediation plan," Huff said. "We will ask
the state to tell us what to do to manage
this risk. In any case, all the information
will be shared with the citizens."
Resident Ellen McCloud said that she
feels that the school system knew the
ground was contaminated in the 1990s.
"Every time we raised a question, we
were told there was nothing wrong. My
problem is that the community wasn't
involved. They (the school) said nothing to
the community. Before they said nothing,
and this year they had to move those chil
dren out in the middle of the school year,"
she said. "We're living there. We are right
there. If it's that dangerous, the contamina
tion did not stop at the school, that's what
put us on edge and opened our eyes
because somebody said it was contaminat
ed and took action."
Resident Waunzo Sherard said that he
is concerned about the impact that it has
had on his property.
"I've noticed that our property values
have been lowered recently and that my
water bill is going up monthly. I want to
know if the city is listening," he said.
Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke
thanked all attendees for their diligence in
holding the city accountable and for their
participation.
"We don't want to hear what the school
system had to say about it. We want it first
hand from those that we've hired," Burke
said. "So you, the taxpayers, can hear it
from them. If there's a problem there or
something we need to do, we are here
today to make sure we give you the
answers to your questions."
Another meeting will be planned to
share the information that is found. For
more information on the presentation, visit
http://www.cityofws .org/departments/stor
mwater-erosion-control.
HaneslLowrance
Middle School is sit
ting vacant because
the School Board
deemed it unsafe. City
of Winston-Salem
Stormwater Manager
Keith Huff told resi
dents at a meeting on
March 31 that the
main pollutants found
in the ground were
tetrachloroethene,
trichlorothene and 1
Dichloroethene, all
common chemicals
that can be found in
common household
agents.
Photos by Erin Mizelle for The Chronicle
Grants
from page A1
with community child care
centers that will each pro
vide one .to three class
rooms for infants and tod
dlers," Feikema said. "This
funding will enable us to
provide high-quality early
learning and child develop
ment services during the
years when children need it
most. Children enrolled in
Early Head Start can 'grad
uate' into Head Start and
have the benefit of up to
five straight years of
immersion in a research
based curriculum. The
years from birth to five are
critical in terms of brain
development and prepared
ness for school and
beyond."
EHS will offer continu
ous, intensive and compre
hensive services to both
children and their families.
Those services include
health screenings, social
and emotional health, nutri
tion, social services, and
services for children with
disabilities.
Head Start serves 499
preschoolers annually at
four Family Services facili
ties located throughout the
county, in six community
childcare centers, and in
three elementary school
classrooms in collaboration
with the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
Elementary Schools. Head
Start also offers an extend
ed day program for parents
who are working and/or in
training or school.
For more information,
visit www.fsifamily.org.
"The Early Head Start grant will pay the salaries of
at least 42 full-time staff members,"
- Bob Feikema
Cameras
from page Al
"Obviously, costs asso
ciated with purchasing
these cameras is a big
issue, and what we didn't
want to do was place an
unfunded mandate on
smaller counties right
away. We started with our
most populous counties
and that 200,000 encom
passes about 60 counties,"
he said. "We are also going
to make it so that if the
larger counties, who
already have body cam
eras, can't use the funds,
they can be passed to the
smaller counties who
might want to participate in
the program so they can
come in and get in on the
" funding," Hanes said.
Hanes said that the bill
has received bipartisan
support and he is optimistic
that it will pass.
"We went to the speak
er of the house and the
rules chairman to let them
know what we were trying
to do, and we have the sup
port to move forward on a
bill that's going to get bi
partisan support. They've
been very open to looking
at the issue. We are hoping
that we can get several dif
ferent bills out there, this
being one of them, and that
they will join us in what we
are trying to do here. That's
not telling officers what to
do. We are saying ensure
the security and interaction
for both sides," Hanes said.
Councilman James
Taylor said that he feels the
bill is great idea, even
though it is not needed for
the city.
"Winston-Salem,
unlike other cities, is in a
unique position. We were
one of the first cities in the
country to move ahead,
voluntarily and purchase
body cameras for all of our
officers that encounter citi
zens on the street," said the
chairman of the city's
Public Safety Commission.
"Our officers are already
equipped with body cam
eras, so whether the legis
lation is filed or not, we've
done the due diligence and
what we're supposed to do
as a city to make sure we
are out in front with public
safety in that regard."
Police Chief Barry
Rountree was given a
chance to read over a draft
of the bill when Hanes
drafted it and provided rec
ommendations to make it
acceptable across the state.
He said that it would need
to be specified who the
cameras were for and how
they're to be used in gener
al.
Both Greensboro and
Winston-Salem Police
already have the cameras.
The closest city outside of
them with cameras is
Charlotte.
"I don't see a lot of
downfalls to it. The larger
issues and concerns will be
privacy concerns. We have
a policy where if there is
any interaction with the cit
izen, we run the camera.
That's going to have to be
spelled out clearly,"
Rountree said. "Overall, I
don't have a big objection
to it."
Taylor said that trans
parency seems to be what
citizens across the nation
are calling for these days,
and cameras statewide
would help to fulfill that
order.
"If they can get other
municipalities and towns
on board. We've already
made steps to be transpar
ent and open in how we
police our streets," he said.
"I commend
Representative Hanes for
stepping up and doing this
for other municipalities,
but we are already geared
up and the cameras have
been implemented on the
streets."
Hanes said that the suc
cess rates across the nation
in those departments who
have them, shows that the
program works.
"We saw that in places
like Oakland, California,
who's the first major met
ropolitan area in the coun
try to implement body
cameras. They've had a 60
percent reduction in com
plaints against police offi
cers in the last year and a
half. Some of the video
footage has shown bad
actions from the police
officers, and some of the
footage has shown bad
actions from the residents.
What has happened is
police officers using then
training the way it was sup
posed to be used and you
have citizens who aren't
acting out against the cops.
It's been a complete win
win situation."
Oakland Police
Department's numbers
speak from themselves,
according to Hanes.
"We can't move for
ward in the community
unless law enforcement
and the community feel
safe in their interactions
with one another," he said.
"We really do feel that the
body cameras help move
us forward."
If approved, the
changes would become
effective Jan. 1, 2016, for
members and officers of
the State Highway Patrol
and county law enforce
ment officers. For the
remaining law enforcement
officers across the state, the
law would become effec
tive Jan. 1,2017.
? PU piovitied L"^^m^^53emTolice Dcpartmetu
A Winston-Salem police officer demonstrates placement of a body camera.
Photo by Erin Mizelle for The Chronicle
Ms. Reyas, left, reads a favorite book to her 3-year-old sstudents during story
time at the Sarah Y. Austin Head Start Center on Tuesday, April 7,2015
I^HI
336-750-3220