In 2013, when the Town of Chapel Hill discovered its police station at 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was constructed on top of coal ash infill, the local government notified the North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources. Now, more than ten years later, the two governments are set to unveil a draft agreement on how to best remediate the toxic substance. The draft plan is expected to provide insight into how to best address the presence of the coal ash, which was moved to the site with construction debris in the 1960s and 1970s before the town assumed control of the land. The substance has occasionally seeped out of the ground near Bolin Creek, with the town removing some deposits in 2018 and 2019 as part of the construction of Bolin Creek Trail. Far more remains underground, though, and the town has grappled with the best direction for how to address it. Past options discussed included ‘capping’ the ash in underground containment — which would not fully remov...