State regulators may require UNC to get a permit for its animal holding facility’s faulty wastewater treatment system after three discharges, including a slow leak that reached Collins Creek.

The system at the Bingham Facility was built under a “deemed permit” status. Instead of having to get a state permit, like systems treating kitchen and bathroom waste get, the Bingham Facility was exempted as an agricultural use.

Now UNC could face a fine or have the system’s “deemed permit” status revoked.

Staff at the state Division of Water Quality forwarded a recommendation today to administrators. Jay Zimmerman, environmental program supervisor, said after three leaks and other problems, a change in the permit status is possible.

“All of those things are leading us to question whether retaining the deemed permit status is the best and most appropriate thing right now,” he said this morning.

Mary Beth Koza, director of UNC’s Department of Environment, Health & Safety, had not spoken with state regulators about their recommendation.

“Whatever DENR request of us we will do,” she said.

We'll have more about the Bingham Faciliy in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

UNC officials who attended a Dec. 14 meeting with Bingham Township residents say they didn't mention that treated wastewater leak from an animal holding facility had reached a nearby creek because they didn't know it yet.

In a story in today's Chapel Hill News, we report that UNC suspected a 1.6 million gallon lagoon holding treated wastewater from dog kennels was leaking as early as Oct. 19. It took until Dec. 15 to install and turn on a sump pump to collect the leaking water and return it to the pond. The pond, which was about a quarter full, was expected to be emptied today and the water taken to OWASA's wastewater treatment plant.

Laura Streitfeld, an organizer with the citizens group Preserve Rural Orange, has called on UNC to stop using the lagoon until the state concludes its investigation. The state issued a notice of violation after observing green-dyed treated wastewater in Collins Creek Dec. 14. That was the same day as the meeting between UNC officials and Bingham Township residents at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Wastewater leaks at an animal research storage facility in rural Orange County has some of its neighbors concerned.

The state has cited the university for one of the leaks at the animal holding facility in Bingham Township, and documents now show the university suspected the leak existed nearly two months before installing the sump pump needed to rectify the problem. 

Mark Schultz has the story in today's Chapel Hill News.

State officials served UNC with a notice of violation last month after treated wastewater at its animal holding facility in western Orange County leaked into a creek feeding Jordan Lake.

It was the second wastewater release at the Bingham Facility, commonly called The Farm because it houses animals used in research on the main campus. The earlier leak did not trigger a notice because the wastewater did not reach Collins Creek, a tributary to the Haw River which in turn flows into Jordan Lake.      

UNC had until Monday to submit its corrective plan. Efforts to obtain a copy or find out whether it was completed were unsuccessful today.  

The university plans a $27 million expansion of the Bingham Facility. The 57-acre site has about 60 research dogs. A building under construction will add 100 dogs now housed near Hillsborough. The building has been designed to add 100 more when funding is found.

At the same time, the university has applied for federal stimulus money to move dogs and pigs from the Frances Owen Blood Research Laboratory near University Lake in Carrboro. If the money comes through, new buildings could house up to 150 additional dogs – for a total of between 400 and 450 – and up to 150 hogs.

We'll have more on this story in tomorrow's News & Observer.

Bingham Township residents say they have been asking UNC since last summer for specific numbers related to the expansion of the Research Resources Facility, known as "The Farm," off Orange Chapel Clover Garden Road in Bingham Township. They got them Monday night.

As we reported in today's News & Observer, the 57-acre site currently has about 60 research dogs. A building under construction will add 100 dogs that are now housed near Hillsborough. The building has been designed to add 100 more when funding is found.

At the same time, the university has applied for federal stimulus money for buildings to move dogs and pigs that are now housed at the Frances Owen Blood Research Laboratory near University Lake in Carrboro, said Gene Bober, assistant dean for resource planning in the School of Medicine. The dogs are used in research on blood clotting and muscular dystrophy; the hogs, on heart disease.

If the money comes through - the university could find out next month - those buildings could house up to 150 additional dogs, for a total of between 400 and 450, and up to 150 hogs.

UNC researchers and administrators met with neighbors of the university's Research Resources Facility, commonly called "The Farm," in Bingham Township Monday night at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. 

Residents have been asking for information about the expansion of the animal holding facility. They say unlike with the planning of Carolina North and even the redevelopment of the University Square shopping center, the university has not provided information on what they are doing.

Last night's meeting tried to change that. Speakers started with an overview of UNC's research on heart disease, hemophilia and muscular dystrophy. Specially bred pigs, whose hearts are nearly identical to humans, and dogs are used to study coronary atherosclerosis (a narrowing of blood vessels and a major cause of death and disability) and blood clotting. Specially bed dogs are used to study Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disorder that affects one in 5,000 live male births, with most dying in their 20s.

"This is wonderful information," resident Tom Schopler interjected, "but not really germane. The issue is not whether research is necessary. The issue is how is the facility going to be operated, how are animals going to be moved back and forth (between the Farm, and the School of Medicine), how is the wastewater going to be handled." 

Next post: The planned expansion