Most of us know what surrounds our homes: the schools, parks, shopping centers, and roads. But many Wake County residents may not know what lies beneath some of them.
North Carolina’s official inventory identifies 34 pre-regulatory landfills and dumps in Wake County. These are not simply the large, modern landfills most of us picture. The list includes old municipal dumps and private disposal sites in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Garner, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Morrisville, Knightdale, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Wendell and Zebulon. Recorded locations include Wade Avenue, Capital Boulevard, Dorothea Dix, Bass Lake Road, Newspaper Way, and residential or commercial properties.
That does not mean every site is dangerous. It does mean we should know which sites have been thoroughly investigated, what was found, and whether monitoring or protective measures remain necessary…