[Link to files, NCDEQ records for “TRANSOU, RedRock, GC ROAD” are here. Read PART 2 HERE. Read PART 3 HERE.]

UPDATE APRIL 29, 2025: Local residents say the land-clearing of this contaminated site began in November, before the required Work Plan for Soil, Groundwater & Vapor Assessment was submitted to (and approved by) the NC DEQ, but a Triad Business Journal article suggests the clearing was well underway as early as October 2024. Below are photos taken today of the razed brownfield property – the photos were shot from Guilford College Road looking west toward Piedmont Parkway. The green strip in the background is the BP Family Fare gas station. Wendover Avenue runs between the property and the apartments on the hill on the right side of the photos:

ORIGINAL POST: Developers are planning to build hundreds of apartments and multi-family units on 35 acres of state-designated “Inactive Hazardous Site” and Brownfield property at Guilford College Road and Wendover Avenue in Jamestown 27282.

There are two sites. The larger of the two, at 29 acres, is a group of parcels that includes recently razed forest acreage on the west side of Guilford College, south of Wendover Avenue. The owners/developers are Barry Siegel and Willard Tucker of GCWA Partners LLC. The smaller of the two sites, at 5 acres, was once the site of a septic and chemical dumping business. [NEW: see groundwater test results for PFAS, VOCS, GenX at the smaller site here].

VOCs, PFAS, benzene, metals and other hazards from past use have been found in groundwater, soil and soil vapors at and near the sites.

The problems at the smaller site (the “Transou” property) were first identified back in the 1990s when it was added to the NC Inactive Hazardous Sites List. A December 2024 Assessment Plan proposed by Pilot Environmental (engineering firm) for GCWA Partners touches on it:

“… 1202 Guilford College Road is identified on several databases including the Leaking Aboveground Storage Tank (LAST) Database, the Inactive Hazardous Sites and Federal Remediation Branch Sites (SHWS) Database, and the Hazardous Substance Disposal Sites (HSDS) Database. Pilot previously reviewed the NCDEQ regulatory file for this facility (NONCD0000024). According to the information in the file, this property was previously utilized as Gaither Transou’s Septic Tank Pumping Service from the 1970’s until the mid-1990’s. According to information in the file, approximately twenty-five 55-gallon drums, three half drums, and ten 5-gallon metal buckets were discovered buried on the central portion of the site and were removed in November of 1992. Groundwater was not encountered during removal activities. Approximately 151 tons of impacted soil were excavated and stockpiled on the site. Laboratory analysis of soil samples collected detected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) at concentrations above the laboratory detection limits and petroleum related compounds at concentrations above the applicable standards. An additional 134.59 tons of impacted soil was removed from the property in April of 1993. During assessment activities, the groundwater flow direction was estimated to be to the south and southwest, which is away from the site.

Additional soil and groundwater sampling activities were completed at this property in October of 2004. Laboratory analysis of groundwater samples collected detected benzene, cis-1,2- Dichloroethene (DCE), and vinyl chloride at concentrations above their respective 2L Standards. Laboratory analysis of soil samples detected trace concentrations of chlorinated solvents. Groundwater samples were collected at this property and from water supply wells at properties located topographically downgradient of this property in January of 2017 and March of 2020. Laboratory analysis of groundwater samples collected at the property in 2004 did not detect SVOCs or VOCs at concentrations above laboratory detection limits. Laboratory analysis of groundwater samples collected at one property east of the site (1201 Guilford College Road) detected chloroform at concentrations below its 2L Standard”

The December 2024 Pilot Environmental assessment plan is referred to throughout this post and can be read in its entirety at this link:

The current owner of the Transou property is Jacqueline McClain. She is also listed as the manager of the prospective developer, Firm Foundation Real Estate Investments LLC. In December, McClain filed a Brownfield application with the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ). The Brownfield application, if approved, would allow limited redevelopment of the contaminated property subject to restrictions and monitoring by the state.

On January 28, the NCDEQ sent McClain a “Letter of Eligibility” for continued evaluation, triggering the next step: “…a detailed review of available environmental and other relevant data to determine what is currently known about contamination at the Brownfields Property, and what, if any, information gaps may exist that may require additional assessment.“

The NCDEQ letter also states that on Brownfield properties, “… single family homes, townhomes, duplexes or other units with yards are prohibited. Townhomes can be done under certain circumstances but have more assessment and administrative requirements. Because risk management decisions may vary depending on the nature of the redevelopment, it will be important that DEQ review the locations of the various elements.”

Additionally, the NCDEQ letter states that “the site uses have not yet been determined to be suitable. That determination will be made with further analysis of site-specific data.”

Based on the amount of equipment, tanks, drilling machinery and trucks that have taken over the Transou property in the last few days, it appears that the site-specific analysis is ongoing:

Just to emphasize the seriousness of Brownfields, the January NCDEQ letter goes into detail about the risks a developer takes when they start kicking up dust at a known hazardous site, especially one on which TCE has been found (TCE is the Camp LeJeune lawsuit contaminant that travels upwards through the ground and into structures through a process called vapor intrusion). From the letter:

“Given the detection of TCE on the property, even though some assessment has been done by DEQ, please be aware that additional assessment will be necessary due to the redevelopment, and in particular, to determine if vapor mitigation measures are needed to make the site safe for residential use. Also be aware that this letter in and of itself does not constitute approval for any proposed use in the application … If you occupy the Brownfields Property or operate or conduct activities at the Brownfields Property that result in a release of regulated substances or introduce a health risk before a BFA has been finalized for the Brownfields Property, you may be considered to have caused or contributed to contamination at the Brownfields Property … Because an entity that could be considered to have caused or contributed to contamination at the Brownfields Property cannot be a Prospective Developer under the Act, your eligibility for participation in the NCBRS would be placed in jeopardy.”

The warning has us questioning the timing and safety protocols used during the aggressive tree cutting and razing of the larger property at Wendover and Guilford College (referred to here as “Red Rock”) – the 29-acre site owned by Seigel and Tucker, who also applied for Brownfield status back in 2020 when a site assessment landed the property on the state’s list of Inactive Hazardous Sites. They received their Letter of Eligibility from the NCDEQ, back on July 8, 2021, following the submission of their Brownfield application. The NCDEQ described it as follows:

“The Proposed [Red Rock] Brownfields Property is approximately 28.4 acres and located in Jamestown, North Carolina. Site history is primarily residential and currently the site is vacant/undeveloped. There are known petroleum impacts to the soil, known VOC/SVOC impacts to the groundwater, and suspected chlorinated [chloromethane] impacts to the groundwater. Proposed reuse is for high-density residential and commercial.”

With their applications, Brownfield applicants are encouraged to include letters from the community in support of “positive impacts” such a developed property would bring. The Red Rock property is addressed in Jamestown 27282. Groundwater from the site flows south to Jamestown. Dust and vapor pollute the air over Jamestown. The property owner pays property taxes to Guilford County and the Pinecroft-Sedgefield fire district (but pays NO property taxes to Jamestown). THIS is the “community support” letter the applicant included with the Brownfield application for their Jamestown project:

It is unclear whether the Assessment plan proposal submitted on behalf of Siegel and Tucker’s property by Pilot Environmental has been put into action yet – a plan to assess the soil and groundwater for VOCs, metals and hexavalent chromium. It is very clear, however, that the property has been razed, and that a lot of trees, dirt and debris remain to be cleaned up:

[Link to files, NCDEQ records for “TRANSOU, RedRock, GC ROAD” are here. Read PART 2 HERE. Read PART 3 HERE.]