NC industrial sites threaten water and soil: Why oversight committees matter

This deep-dive into environmental contamination chiefly employs Sanford’s hazardous contamination cleanup at the former Magneti Marelli (MM) auto parts manufacturing plant to alert the tri-county area that conditions are ripe for recurrence, but there is a solution.

Several factors enable the problem. North Carolina has grants urging light industrial development into rural areas, and it created a market trend economic developers quote when asserting proposals. There are no oversight committees for decision-makers. The public does not always speak during public hearings, and there are no significant numbers of public speakers at development proposal hearings to make their concerns echo into denials from officials.

According to North Carolina General Statute 143‑318.11, the public cannot attend closed sessions of elected boards when negotiating the purchase of real property. An oversight committee created by the board may attend if the board formally authorized the committee as negotiating agents or advisors.

This article uses several case studies of how oversight committees could aid in the preservation of clean soil and water, the safekeeping of public funds, and ultimately, the preservation of rural places.

The release of this article coincides with interview articles for candidates running for elected offices in Moore, Lee and Harnett because they are asked to provide input about oversight committees.

In 1976, when MM was built, it was in the county, next to the county high school and near Central Carolina Technical Institute, now called Central Carolina Community College (CCCC). The plant manufactured automotive fuel system components, including carburetors, fuel injectors, solenoid valves, pistons and throttle bodies.

In 1988, an ultrasonic test discovered underground hazardous waste tank SWMU #17, also called Stoddard 17, “showed evidence of leakage by virtue of water leaking into the tank. The tank was immediately removed from further service by capping the inlet piping, and alternate accumulation arrangements were made for the waste Stoddard solvent. Also noted, installation drawings indicated that tank is on a 3’0” thick sectioned concrete foundation with hold-down strapping,” the Jan. 31, 1989, Weber report on North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) NCD060299880 shares.

In Feb. 2022, TerraQuest Solutions smelled “a slight VOC odor” from an 18-20-foot deep soil sample near SWMU #1 at the MM site. “That depth is within the aquifer…a contaminant migration pathway,” according to the report on the VOC odor in March 2022.

“The Stoddard solvent for the site consisted of a mixture of 340 solvent (65%), varsol #1 (29%), Solvesso 100 (5%), and Isopar H (1%)…Stoddard solvent is insoluble in water…It typically takes several years to achieve cleanup goals as approximately 65% of the mass removal is due to stripping/volatilazaion and 35% due to boidegradtion. Thus, SVE is not a primary method proposed for this SWMU,” reads the March 2022 report on the MM site.

In March 2022, NCDEQ approved removal plans of SWMU #17 at $150,000 to $300,000.

Semi-annual sampling of monitoring eight monitoring wells is scheduled for each April and October.

In Oct. 2022, inspectors discovered naphthalene, a possible carcinogen, in concentrations in excess of the 2L Standards in seven monitoring wells. Other compounds were reported above the standards in three monitoring wells. Read Table 2 to learn more here.

In the same Oct. 2022 report, the team suggested “no further action” because levels had reduced from previous samples.

“Beyond SWMU 17 (Stoddard solvent), all other SWMUs have previously been recommended for “no further action” status in the Work Plan 3/2022 submitted to the NCDEQ,” reads the Oct. 2022 NCD060299880 report.

Cleanup is complicated, costly and indefinite, and no one knows exactly how far the contaminant pathway traveled in past or recent incidents.

“Assembled components are tested and adjusted using Stoddard solvent, a substitute fuel for gasoline. The facility utilizes injection molding in its operation. The facility treats wastewater on-site and has been issued an Industrial User Pretreatment Permit (IUP # 000007) by the City of Sanford. The facility operates under NPDES Permit #NC 0024147 with a discharge to Big Buffalo Creek. The NC Division of Waste Management has issued a HWSA-only permit to the facility for groundwater remediation due to the past on-site release of Stoddard Solvent from a UST. The permit covers bi-annual groundwater monitoring and remediation of contaminated groundwater,” the May 7, 2015, MM NCD060299880 report states.

The 1974 Sanford, North Carolina map, found on PastMaps, shows the city limits in pink. The United States Department of Interior Geological Survey shows the major transportation routes, schools and above-ground waterways. The red X marks the former Magneti Marelli property.

In Moore County, the Aberdeen contaminated groundwater Superfund site covers 1.3 square miles east of U.S. Highway 1, where Powder Metals Products manufactured machine parts from 1980 to 1995. Since 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the NCDEQ have monitored the contamination and worked on cleanup to protect nearby residents and the environment, resulting in about 20 years of monitoring.

Lee County’s former MM on Nash Street in Sanford reports list many hazardous chemicals, solvents and violations. MM’s NCDEQ reports, NCD060299880, are public records.

The Nov. 2, 2020, NCDEQ NCD060299880 report shares, “This [stormwater] runoff was known to have been contaminated by spillage of electroplating sludge from the Old Pretreatment Former Drum Storage Area (SWMU 22).”

The Nov. 20, 2020, MM NCDEQ report shares, “remediation is required at the Former Waste Stoddard Solvent Tank (SWMU 17).”

The NCDEQ website has continually made public the contamination and necessary remediation efforts.

MM closed, was sold to Lee County Government for $7.4 million with $600,000 paid toward cleanup costs in July 2021, and they leased it to CCCC for a technical and biotechnology center. The property’s renovation for a learning center is in the planning stage while contaminants are syphoned off and hauled away from the site at taxpayers’ expense.

The July 30, 2021, NCDEQ report shares that “the groundwater remediation system was not operating at the time of the inspection and has not been operational since approximately July 2018.”

“First, we were not aware of Magnetti Marielli’s pending Hazardous Waste site permit literally just days before our closing. As I understand, the company we hired assessed the area of contamination based on the test wells and resulting samples. The concentrations are confined to the area of the storage tank. The cost budgeted in 2022 of $600,000 is correct, but we have a continuing expense until the NCDEQ absolves us of the monitoring. Essentially, until it is cleaned, as I say “the gift that keeps on giving. Really, our water quality is threatened primarily by the plastic littering our roadside ditches as they breakdown into our surface waterways. The Moore Center [formerly Magneti Marelli] site is not a threat to our ground or surface water,” Chairman Kirk Smith shared in an email.

Smith responded with emails and photos to inquiries for details about the current monitoring at the MM site, called the E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center. “There is a small domed shed holding the vacuum system and tanks continuously drawing out the contaminant…The real threat to our water quality is the roadside trash and plastics that people shamelessly and freely throw along our roadways.  Microplastics are a very powerful threat to our health,” Smith shared in another email.

Lee County Deputy County Attorney Elizabeth Boone provided a copy of the Timmons report for the information request on the environmental report required before the purchase during the due diligence real estate process.

During the due diligence period of the real estate transaction for MM, Lee County Government read the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment prepared by Timmons Group of Raleigh for MAD M & R LLC, which filed for incorporation on Feb. 12, 2021. MAD M & R LLC is a development company operated by Sanford residents: Mark Davenport and Mark Lyczkowski and Whitsett resident, Ray Covington.

Timmons Group of Raleigh has an in-house laboratory in its civil planning, infrastructure design and economic development company.

The 613-page April 2021 Timmons Group report details some past environmental incidents that led to the property’s need for indefinite semi-annual groundwater monitoring with CREC concerns.

As indicated on page seven of the Timmons Laboratory report, the groundwater flows into Lick Creek.

A CREC is a REC that has been cleaned up but still has some contamination left, managed under legal controls.

Inconsistent sample collections are exemplified in the April 24, 2015, report shares, “one surface water grab sample was collected to evaluate potential contaminant that may be entrained in the surface water of the SPCC Discharge Stream. [Lick Creek].” The ENCO Laboratory personnel wore vinyl gloves. The sample was tested for metals and semi-volatile organic compounds. Three inorganic compounds were detected: barium, copper, and zinc, were above standards. No SVOCs were detected.

According to the Jan. 12, 2021, NCDEQ NCD060299880 report for permit renewal, MM estimated its annual flammable liquid waste at one ton. MM was required to attach a topographical map of “the area extending to at least one mile beyond property boundaries,” showing the intake and discharge structures, its hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities, including underground and “include all spring, rivers, and other surface water bodies.”

In Nov. 2022, Terraquest investigators simply noted in NCD060299880 reports about the former MM property that the City of Sanford supplied water as it recorded groundwater contamination concerns.

On Jan. 12, 2024, Terraquest NCD060299880 reports on the contamination pathway from groundwater read that they investigated the number of water supply wells within 1,500 feet of the site and that the City of Sanford relayed in a phone call on Jan. 8, 2024, that city water was available to those within 1,500 feet of the site.

For over three years, hazardous waste cleanup efforts at the former MM site at 2101 Nash Street in Sanford have continued.

“We are mainly under a mandated period of monitoring before DEQ will consider issuing a No Further Action for the permit. We have not had any indication of recent concerns from DEQ and anticipate being on track for this, however we do not have a timeframe identified since it is ultimately subject to the determination of the state,” Lee County Assistant County Manager of Operational Services Jennifer Gamble, J.D. replied in an email about the length of time required for the cleanup of the former MM site.

NCDEQ required a map showing a one-mile radius around the MM property, but the NCDEQ required “investigation” on water contamination was 1,500 feet and determined city water was available.

Tri-River Water supplied a map Dec. 1, 2025, with a one-mile radius outlined in red around the MM property showing where it supplied city water. The yellow circle is the MM area.

In Moore County, a Superfund site with 37-acres, the Aberdeen Pesticide Dumps, includes five areas contaminated by decades of pesticide mixing and waste dumping. A pesticide plant operated there from 1930 to 1987. Ongoing groundwater treatment, monitoring, land-use restrictions and regular reviews by the EPA and NCDEQ and responsible parties monitor the area.

Aberdeen Elementary School sits between two pesticide dumpsites.

On Nov. 24, 2025, a 2017 email became public after an information request from a person with experience in higher education who asked not to be named. It reveals the school administration knew the school property needed continued monitoring.

“At this [Aberdeen Pesticide] site, activity and use limitations that EPA calls institutional controls are in place. Institutional controls play an important role in site remedies because they reduce exposure to contamination by limiting land or resource use. They also guide human behavior. For instance, zoning restrictions prevent land uses – such as residential uses – that are not consistent with the level of cleanup,” the EPA report reads.

It seems the lessons learned from unknown risks with light industrial developments would avoid development near schools, residences and waterways.

Moore County voted to build the new Carthage Elementary School across the street from Hall’s Auto, a petroleum contaminated site on Vass-Carthage Road with a “no further action required” status unless an inspection reveals need. Read the March 2021 PDF here.

Pages six and seven of the March 2021 environmental report on Hall’s Auto includes a section on questions pertaining to the property containing the source area of the released contaminants, “Does the property contain a school, daycare center, hospital, playground, park, recreation area, church, nursing home, or other place of public assembly? NO…Is the use of the property likely to change in the next 20 years? YES Explain. There is potential for the site to be redeveloped in the next 20years.”

The Hall’s Auto report asks about properties within 1,500 feet of the contaminated property, “What is the distance from the source area of the release to the nearest school, daycare center, hospital, playground, park, recreation area, church, nursing home or other place of public assembly?”

These questions reveal there is concern over how soon the property could be developed and how near a school may be to the contamination site.

According to Google Maps, the new elementary building site (As seen on the map, it is next to 1433 Vass-Carthage Road and six feet from the pond.) is about 600 feet from the contamination site.

In Lee County, there are 13 properties with environmental concerns: Sanford Plating Company, San Lee Park, Singer Company’s Furniture Division, Carbonton Road Drum Site, Weber USA Inc. Sanford Plant, Cox Mill Road Plating, Stanadyne Inc., Cornell-Dubilier Electronics on Buckhorn Road and the Lee County Landfill, three dry cleaning businesses and the former MM plant.

Lee County has a high industrial business count.

The following examples show a blend of ranges of concern for environmental safety.

Sanford is home to three dry-cleaning Superfund sites: Dry Clean Express on Spring Lane, Crystal Cleaners on Horner Boulevard, and Twin City Cleaners on Trade Street.

In 2010, the City of Sanford supplied drinking water to residents within 1,000 feet of the former Twin City Cleaner’s contaminated property. The property was an appliance repair shop at the time of the contamination discovery. Sanford officials said there was probably no one nearby with well water because the city provided water.

In May 2023, the City of Sanford postal mailed letters to property owners within 500 feet of Crystal Cleaners.

These three dry-cleaning sites show how differently contaminated water concerns were handled: one neighborhood received city drinking water as a precaution, while another only received notification letters years later, showing inconsistent responses to similar risks. Dry-Clean Express’s report did not show a water response to citizens.

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The 1974 Sanford, North Carolina map, found on PastMaps, shows the city limits in pink. The United States Department of Interior Geological Survey shows the major transportation routes, schools and above-ground waterways.

The 1974 topographic map lists Buffalo Creek near Central High School, then the county high school, and close to Central Carolina Technical Institute, but the map does not identify Lick Creek, a smaller tributary connected to the former Magneti Marelli site.

In Oct. 2025, the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority grant program announced 21 recipients of over $9 million in awards for light industrial businesses near rural residential areas.

It is common knowledge that water wells are common in rural areas, and that industrial businesses sometimes come with environmental risks. However, it is not common knowledge that IT manufacturing has a hazardous chemical affiliation, and it is not likely developers will discuss this during a public hearing when pitching their proposals.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, semiconductor fabrication, display panel production, and battery manufacturing use hazardous chemicals. Chip fabrication relies on toxic solvents and corrosive acids. They use dangerous process gases, including many of which are highly toxic, flammable, or pyrophoric. Display manufacturing adds chromium compounds and additional solvents and photoresists, while lithium-ion battery production involves lithium salts, cobalt and nickel oxides, and flammable organic electrolytes that can generate hydrofluoric acid if they decompose.

Data centers, though not manufacturers, handle hazardous materials through water-treatment chemicals, diesel for backup generators, and lithium-ion battery systems. Wastewater from these facilities can contain solvents, heavy metals, fluorides, nanoparticles, and PFAS, all of which require strict environmental controls.

Still, applicants for light industrial development are not required to reveal the exact businesses they intend to place in their developments in front of the public.

Concerning the MM property, the June 5, 2014, Enco Laboratory report reads, they found nine VOCs above limits, with naphthalene exceeding the 2L Groundwater Standard at Monitoring Well #3. At Monitoring Well #4, they found 11 VOCs above limits with three above the 2L Groundwater Standard: isopropyl00,benzene, naphthalene, and n-propyl benzene. Monitoring Well #6 detected one VOC, dichloroethane, but not above the 2L Groundwater Standard.

The July 30, 2021, NCDEQ inspection shares in its report that the company had been closed for six months and left solid waste behind.

The Oct. 12, 2022, Terraquest report reads that naphthalene was in the groundwater in excess of the 2L Standard.

At the Nov. 10, 2025, CCCC budget discussion, one of the members of the board of trustees said the construction crew had discovered hazardous fumes when boring the cement to reinforce support for the above floor in the basement structure and there could be more areas and a study was being conducted.

MM moved to Mexico in 2022 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025.

Lee County Government held a public hearing on July 11, 2022, and not a single citizen spoke for or against the purchase of the former Magneti Marelli site, a light industrial zoned property, for CCCC as a technical and biotechnology learning center.

“Cleanup is ongoing as it is a continuous extraction process literally vacuuming the contaminate from the test wells,” Smith wrote.

“Based on the volume of storage across the Site, the on-site presence of hazardous substance and/or petroleum products represents an environmental concern but not a REC based on the segregation of materials and the observed housekeeping practices in combination of no current reports of storage violations,” reads page 14 of the Timmons report Lee County Government contracted for due diligence investigation before the purchase.

Recognized Environmental Conditions (REC) are a critical concept in environmental due diligence within the framework of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs).

Nearly a year prior to the Lee County Government purchasing the property, on Aug. 2021, Terraquest Environmental Consultants studied the 21.4-acre manufacturing site and found some levels of organic compounds beyond acceptable.

A VOC is a volatile organic compound, and benzene is a known carcinogen, but not all compounds need remediation.

For example, the arsenic at the site did not need remediation because it was a naturally occurring compound, as reported here.

But Stoddard 17, a 10,000-gallon solid waste management unit (SWMU) and solvent tank, contained hazardous contaminants and leaked.

In the Aug. 2021 groundwater samples, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), was detected above the lab’s minimum reporting level. DEHP can enter water systems, such as creeks and streams, from manufacturing plants that mold plastic parts.

California lists DEHP as a chemical known to cause cancer and reproductive damage. Research shows that DEHP and similar phthalates disrupt hormones, especially in males, and may affect reproductive health in children and adults. Even low doses have altered cardiovascular reactions in animal studies.

DEHP is a common plasticizer used to soften plastics. It is an oily, colorless liquid that dissolves in oil but not water. It floats, making the skimmer productive in capturing the remaining VOC.

VOCs such as benzene evaporate and move through soil because of their high vapor pressure and low boiling point. When released into the ground, these chemicals shift from liquid to gas and enter the soil’s air pockets, drifting upward and outward. The vapors migrate long distances and sometimes collect beneath buildings and seep indoors, and they usually stink like gasoline.

DEHP is a semi-volatile compound that does not evaporate under normal conditions. Instead of rising through soil as a vapor, DEHP sticks to soil particles and organic matter. Its movement is slow and usually tied to water flow, such as rainfall or groundwater migration. DEHP also travels when contaminated soil erodes or when dust particles carry it into the air, but vapor movement plays a much smaller role than it does with VOCs like benzene.

Soil gases such as benzene potentially contaminate homes or aquifers, while DEHP exhibits a slower rate of movement, but sticks within soil and sediment. Both chemicals can contaminate private wells, especially in rural areas where aquifers are shallow and protections are limited.

The March 27, 2022, report shares the remediation goal of removing the previously abandoned tank and impacted soil and skimming off the impacted groundwater. Analysis of soil samples did not show residential or industrial violations, and none of the samples had groundwater violations. One sample had a VOC odor. The deeper samples at 18 and 20 feet, those within the aquifer zone, had benzenes: 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene above acceptable levels.

A March 27, 2022, map on page 14 of the report shows the contaminant flow direction in Aug. 2021.

The contaminant flow direction has been irregular, as indicated in the same report.

In June 2022, Lee County Government authorized financial responsibility for the property and was granted a hazardous waste permit.

“Surface water is routed through a stormwater sewer system at the site and discharged to the north of the facility through the former SPCC Survace Impoundment. This surface water then enters an unnamed intermittent tributary which flows to the north-northeast and eventually discharges to Lick Creek. According to information obtained from the City of Sanford, no portions of the facility lie within the 100 year flood plain. The area is served with municipal water and sewer services and no known withdrawal wells are located in the immediate vicinity of the site,” the Nov. 16, 2020 report reads.

Behind the former Magneti Marelli plant is the new townhome subdivision, Marelli.

Lick Creek feeds the Cape Fear River Basin.

In a Jan. 12, 2024, report, Terraquest shares, “On Jan. 12, 2024, Terraquest investigated the number of water supply wells within 1,500 feet of the site and that the City of Sanford relayed in a phone call on Jan. 8, 2024, that city water was available to those within 1,500 feet of the site.”

“Recon efforts were further unable to locate any water supply wells within 1,500 feet of the site. No other contamination receptors were identified through reconnaissance efforts,” the Jan. 12, 2024, report reads, adding, “The nearest water bodies, lying to the East and West, are Carr’s Creek and Little Buffalo Creek, respectively,” reads the Jan. 12, 2024 report.

However, the Aug. 13, 2021, report shares that the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System’s permit lists Little Buffalo Creek as the stormwater runoff collection area, not Lick Creek.

In the summer of 2022, Earth X, Inc, a mobile, multi-phase extraction (MMPE) company, removed 6,526 gallons of liquid from the wells dug to measure contamination from SWMU #17.

In the spring of 2023, Earth X, Inc “…recovered 34,764 gallons of free product and contaminated groundwater that were taken offsite for proper disposal. Another 41 gallons was emitted from the vapor stack,” according to the NCD060299880 Corrective Action report on June 1, 2023.

In Sept. 2023, Terraquest implemented skimmers in the eight monitoring wells. “Two air compressors were placed in the basement of the onsite building and supply hose was run to teach of the well locations,” reads the NCD060299880 Sept. 20, 2023, report about the use of 55-gallon drums inside a ULINE spill containment shed on an existing concrete pad in case of a spill.

The struggle for growth and increased quality of life while protecting natural resources is an ongoing battle with limited oversight.

The conflict-of-interest dilemma arises from the overlap of professional endeavors and personal connections within municipal councils, educational boards, and county administrations.

Sandhills News asked each municipality and county government in Moore, Lee and Harnett for records showing elected officials recusing themselves from speaking or voting on projects where they had a conflict of interest. Not all responded, and from those that did, some responses showed officials had properly recused themselves, and others said they had no record of any recusals, no disclosure forms, and no records of business ties.

Under the North Carolina State Government Ethics Act, only state-level public officials must file a Statement of Economic Interest (SEI), not county or municipal level officials.

Administrative teams, including planning departments, surrounding elected officials are paid employees.

When citizens with security clearances volunteer on oversight committees (Moore, Lee, and Harnett counties have bountiful military residents.), their statuses would relieve concerns about possible leaked information during real estate purchases, which are negotiated under general statutes during closed sessions.

Oversight committees working with governments would provide input without loyalty restraints because they would not be paid employees or compensated volunteers.

For school boards operating without committees and those not recording committee meetings, and showing little to no public discourse during meetings, oversight committees would bridge the gap for transparency.

Elected boards form committees for many topics, but this application is a new idea, and people do not like change. But people do not like petroleum derivatives leaching into the groundwater and riding the aquifer for miles either.

Dec. 13, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

Submit news tips, events and interview requests to editor@sandhills.news.