Our Road: Then -- E10 Part 2: EPA Public Hearing: Independent Scientist Responds

Our Road to Walk: Then and Now

In the last episode, Part 1 of the January 4, 1979 EPA Public Hearing, our listeners hear state and EPA officials describe the conceptual engineering design of landfill technology. As officials argue that the application of this landfill design will transform the geological (soil) and hydrogeological (groundwater) inadequacies of the proposed Afton PCB site into a safe site, Warren County citizens are not buying the argument.
In this episode, Part 2 of the January 4, 1979 EPA Public Hearing, University of Maryland Soil Scientist Dr. Charles Mulchi presents his assessment of the proposed Afton PCB landfill site and of the state’s PCB landfill plans.
Dr. Mulchi had been hired by Warren County Citizens Concerned About PCBs to independently conduct test borings and to take soil samples at the proposed landfill site and to study the state’s sampling evidence and landfill plans.
From his findings, Dr. Mulchi concludes that the proposed landfill site is unsuitable. He finds from his own test borings at the site that the soils are not appropriate for containing chemical waste. Dr. Mulchi argues that the state has misrepresented critical data in its report.
He also points out that the state plans to build the landfill just seven feet above the mean water table when officials can’t even identify where the mean water table is.
At the end his presentation, Dr. Mulchi says that he hasn’t just trusted his own judgment but has had his findings peer-reviewed, and the conclusions were the same, which made him feel at least that he was “not totally whistling in the wind.”
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