Health Risks of Demolition
The City of Wilmington has discovered hazardous chemicals including mercury, cobalt, and benzo(a)pyrene in the soils of the Rodney Reservoir. The City wants to move forward with demolition in January anyway–without cleaning up the contamination. Demolition would take four months during which the hazardous chemicals that are currently bound up in the soil could be released in dust or water-run off. Governor Carney and DNREC–the state’s version of the EPA–need to enforce existing state laws and require the City to clean up hazardous chemicals before starting demolition.
Ask Governor Carney and DNREC to enforce the state's Hazardous Substances Cleanup Act and require the City to clean up hazardous materials at the Rodney Reservoir that pose unacceptable cancer risk before starting demolition.
DNREC is allowing the City to proceed with a four-month demolition that could lead to the hazardous chemicals that are currently bound up in the soil being released in dust or water-run off.