Good morning, readers.
The skyline of Bynum has been defined by a water tower for more than 75 years. When Chatham County announced plans to tear the tower down, residents successfully banded together to save it.
In an initial assessment for the tower’s encapsulation and painting, one company tested a paint chip and found lead and hexavalent chromium, both of which are toxic and carcinogenic.
But the company that eventually won the bid for the job didn’t make any plans to prevent those toxic flakes from falling. Its contract with the county only required tarps at the bottom of the tower, even though workers were using power tools.
“I saw a cloud of dust,” said Jenia McBrian, who lives just 50 feet from the water tower and was downwind when a breeze sent tiny shards of contaminated particles into the neighborhood and community garden “There was no advance notice this was happening.”
McBrian said she immediately called Chatham County officials, who shut down the operation within a half hour. The county tested areas of the garden for lead and hexavalent chromium and have said that it exceeds residential goals.
The state Division of Public Health has recommended that all “impacted” soil and plants from the community garden be removed. And until the tower is remediated and the contamination removed, the garden is closed.
Many Bynum residents say that the county has not been transparent about the situation. More than a month after the incident, they still don’t know precisely where the sampling was conducted, what the test results mean, or how to protect themselves and their children from exposure.
The county has held no public meetings about the matter.
— Chase
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Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 50 degrees.
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