Residents still concerned about health after
homes test safe
BY TODD LUCK
TT4P CHRONICLE ?
City and state officials
said that tests show the
neighborhood is safe
around the former Hanes
and Lowrance middle
schools, but residents still
expressed concerns about
their health at a meeting
held Thursday, April 28 at
the Hanes Hosiery
Recreation Center.
The concerns involved
PCE and TCE that contam
inated land at the Kaba Ilco
site and the groundwater in
the surrounding area. The
surrounding community
uses City water and there
are no supply wells in the
area, so water residents use
has been tested and is safe.
The concern is that as con
taminated groundwater
evaporates, its vapors rise
up though the ground.
Officials say the vapors
normally dissipate harm
lessly though the soil, but
could prove hazardous in
an enclosed space like a
building. These concerns
already caused the Hanes
and Lowrance Schools to
move from the area last
year, even after seven air
tests found no danger at the
school -
Keith Huff, director of
Winston-Salem's
Stormwater Management,
presented the results of
testing done to determine if
houses in the neighborhood
were at risk. Of the 36
homes tested, only three
came back with elevated
levels of PCE and TCE in
sub-slab soil gas samples,
which involved coring into
the slab beneath a home
and extracting air for test
ing. Though toxins can
exist in elevated levels in
sub-slab tests, it doesn't
mean that vapors were able
to get into the home. The
air tested safe in one of
those homes. The other two
had elevated levels of the
vapors in the basement, but
not in- the living spaces in
the upper levels of the
homes,. which tested safe.
Since the vapors are dan
gerous in regular, long
term exposure, those
homes are considered safe,
but further testing will be
conducted to confirm the
findings.
"They're just an area
where additional interest
lies, not to say there s any
human health risk associat
ed with this, but further
study may be required,
said Huff.
Tests were done by
both City and Kaba Ilco
employees. The site that
Kaba Ilco, a lock manufac
turer; sits on has long been
an industrial site and the
company says it's been
working with State oni
cials to deal with contami
nation it inherited. The
tests were supervised by
the State Department of
Environmental Quality
(DEQ) and were conducted
based on standards set by
the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
Residents expressed
worries about the small
sample of homes tested.
Huff explained that the
tests focused on an area of
concern, or "hot spots,
where toxicity was most
concentrated in the ground
water. These concentra
tions were determined by
sampling soil vapors, along
with groundwater from 84
monitoring wells installed
by the City and Kaba Ilco
to monitor where the
underground toxic plume
is, which moves over time.
Huff s?id afterward that
they'll be testing several
more houses within the
"hot spots" that residents
want tested.
Another common ques
tion was why residents did
n't know sooner. Clean-up
efforts at the factory site
began under previous own
ers in 1988. By 1996,3000
tons of contaminated dirt
had been removed. DEQ's
Jim Bateson said that the
concern at the time was
ground water and the risk
was thought to only be if
someone drank it. He said
the understanding of the
risk changed around 2005
when the long-term danger
of inhaling the contaminat
ed vapors became known.
He said community meet
ings were held back then.
The clean-up efforts
continue with Kaba Ilco
using machines that turn
contaminated groundwater
into vapor that is then
pumped out. Kaba Deo is
planning on moving its
operations from the site,
but does plan to see clean
up and testing of the pollu
tion through under DEQ
supervision.
"At this site, there's
unfinished business, too,
and it's under your neigh
borhood," said Bateson.
That unfinished busi
ness was a big concern to
residences, who wondered
if ills, including cancer,
infant mortality, hair falling
out and headaches, were
due to the pollution. Ghali
Hasan was among the resi
dents asking for health
studies to be done in the
neighborhood.
"Ain't none of you no
doctors," he told officials.
"The Health Department
should have been brought
in."
There will be other
meetings held to update the
community on testing and
clean up. Bateson said
there will be a health expert
at the next meeting.
Groundwater Pollution
Committee Chair Waunzo
Sherard said he had con
cerns about if health issues
faced by him and his fami
ly were caused by the pol
lution. He was not satisfied
with the assurances offi
cials have given the com
munity so far.
"We're not going to set
tle for non-answers," said
Sherard.
School board decides
on final bond proposal
Funds to acquire
land for elemen
tary school in East
Winston added at
last minute.
BY TEVIN ST1NSON
THE CHRONICLE
Following months of
meetings with parents,
teachers, and a number of
community organizations,
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County (WSFC) Board of
Education has finally
decided on a bond proposal
to take to county commis
sioners later this month.
The final budget pro
posal is set at $350 million
and includes four replace
ment schools, two new
middle schools, additions
at four existing schools, a
new pre-K center and
adding entry-access con
trols at all middle schools
in the county.
The proposal also sets
aside $24 million for tech
nology upgrades in every
school in the district and a
number of other district
wide projects.
While funds to acquire
land for a new elementary
school in the eastern por
tion of the city were
removed from earlier ver
sions of the proposal, the
final proposal includes
$900000 to buy land to
replace Ashley Elementary.
According to School
board officials, the Ashley
project was added at the
last minute to address con
cerns from the community
that the East Winston com
munity was not included in
proposal talks. Board vice
chairman Robert Barr said
adding the project lets the
community know that the
board heard their voice.
While a number of
members in the East
Winston community are
happy to see Ashley includ
ed in the proposal, the
Community School Bond
Coalition (CSBC) raised
the point that there current
ly isn't a middle school in
that area of the city.
Made up of four com
munity organizations, the
Big Four . Alumni
Association, Winston
Salem Branch of the
NAACP-Education
Committee, New South
Community Coalition, and
North Winston
Neighborhood Association,
CSBC is an advocate for
the best possible bond pro
posal for students, teachers
and residents.
President of the Big
Four Alumni Association
Eric Martin said the board
talks about building more
neighborhood schools but
the inner city is often over
looked. Martin said while
they agree with the board
that Ashley needs to be
moved, more could have
been done to address the
issues in the inner city.
"When the school sys
tem says they have neigh
borhood schools, what
neighborhoods are you
talking about?" he said.
"For certain kids they have
a neighborhood school, but
kids in East Winston and
similar areas, they don't."
Martin noted that the
town of Kemersville has
just as many schools as the
city of Winston-Salem, but
don't have nearly as many
people living there.
President of the local
NAACP branch Isaac
Howard mentioned kids in
East Winston have to wake
up more than two hours
before school starts to
catch a bus to county
schools.
"These kids have to
wake up at 5 and 6 in the
morning to catch the bus,"
said Howard. "That puts
them at a major disadvan
tage. When they get to
school they are already
tired."
Superintendent Beverly
Emory praised CSBC for
taking concern with -the
education of the students in
the East Winston commu
nity. While the final pro
posal did not include
everything the coalition
asked for, Emory noted it's.
See Bond on A8
Resident Ghali Hasan expresses his concerns at a meeting held at Hanes
Hosiery Recreation Center last week about groundwater contamination in his
neighborhood.
5/
, /21
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