By Nicole Bowman-Layton

A recent state audit has identified several dozen former landfills and dumps across northeastern North Carolina, raising questions about what may lie beneath some of the region’s oldest disposal sites and whether contaminants have reached nearby groundwater.

The sites, located in Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties (see chart below for names), are among 688 pre-regulatory landfill sites identified across North Carolina. Most accepted waste before modern environmental regulations took effect in 1983, when landfills were no longer allowed to operate without liners, groundwater monitoring and other environmental safeguards.

The audit does not conclude that drinking water in northeastern North Carolina is contaminated.

Instead, it reaches a different conclusion: The state frequently does not know.

According to the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, 534 of the 688 identified sites — 78% — have never undergone environmental investigation, leaving state officials unable to determine whether contaminants have migrated into groundwater, nearby streams or surrounding properties.

That uncertainty carries particular significance in northeastern North Carolina, where many rural residents rely on private wells while others receive water from county and municipal systems. Public water supplies are routinely tested and treated under state and federal regulations. Private wells, however, are generally the responsibility of the homeowner.

The Department of Environmental Quality agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendations but said the backlog reflects a longstanding funding shortage rather than disagreement with the report. The agency said it will continue prioritizing sites posing the greatest potential risk to public health while seeking additional resources to investigate and remediate older landfills.

Homes, wells and schools near old dumps

The audit found that approximately 84% of North Carolina’s identified pre-regulatory landfill sites are located within 1,000 feet of at least one residence, school, daycare, church or drinking-water well. State auditors identified 532 sites near residences and 296 near potable wells.

Many of the disposal areas accepted far more than ordinary household garbage.

According to the report, older dumps may contain hazardous materials, industrial waste, asbestos-containing debris and other contaminants capable of affecting groundwater, surface water, soil and air through methane generation.

The audit emphasizes that contamination has not been documented at every site. Rather, because most have never been investigated, officials often cannot determine whether contamination exists.

Recognizing that gap, DEQ launched a potable well initiative in 2024 to identify drinking-water wells within 1,000 feet of pre-regulatory landfill sites and offer testing for volatile organic compounds and PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” Information gathered through the program will also be used to update site rankings and prioritize future investigations.

Sites throughout the Albemarle region

The audit lists former disposal sites throughout the Observer’s coverage area. Their rankings help DEQ determine which sites warrant the highest priority for investigation, but this does not mean that contamination has been found.

The highest-ranked site in northeastern North Carolina is Buxton Dump in Dare County, which ranks 11th statewide among 629 ranked sites.

Although some sites rank much lower than others, auditors caution that many rankings rely on historical records rather than environmental sampling because investigations have never been completed.

County	Sites	Highest Rank	Highest Priority Site
Dare	6 (Buxton Dump, Jennette’s Dump, Dare County Dump, Buxton Dump Two, Kill Devil Hills Dump, Manteo Dump)	11	Buxton Dump
Bertie	5 (Kelford Dump, Lewiston Refuse Disposal, Roxobel Refuse Disposal, Colerain Refuse Disposal, Windsor Refuse Disposal Area)	213	Kelford Dump
Hyde	5 (Swan Quarter Dump, Fairfield Dump, Ocracoke Dump, Sound Shores Lots 18 & 19, Englehard Dump, New Holland Dump)	344	Swan Quarter Dump
Chowan	3 (Edenton Landfill, Perquimans-Chowan Landfill, JW Bradley Dump)	388	Edenton Landfill
Washington	4 (Plymouth Refuse Dump, Creswell Refuse Disposal, Mackey’s Dump, Roper Refuse Disposal)	195	Plymouth Refuse Dump
Tyrrell	2 (Columbia Dump, Scuppernong Community Dump)	338	Columbia Dump
Camden	1	239	Newby’s Trash Service Dump
Gates	1	353	Gatesville Dump
Perquimans	1	497	Hertford Dump
Currituck	1	553	Independent Trash Service Dump

What the audit means for readers

For residents of the Albemarle region, the audit’s most important conclusion is not that former landfills have contaminated local drinking water.

Rather, it is that many of the answers remain unknown.

For communities with sites identified in the report, questions remain about whether nearby groundwater has been tested, whether private wells have been sampled, and whether environmental investigations have ever occurred.

Those questions are likely to become increasingly important as communities continue to grow, former disposal sites are redeveloped, and state officials work through a backlog that auditors say could take decades to resolve.

While northeastern North Carolina’s listed sites remain largely uninvestigated, the audit cites examples from elsewhere in the state illustrating why older landfills continue to concern environmental officials.

What investigators have found elsewhere

Of the 97 sites that have completed investigations or advanced beyond that stage, 23 contained methane concentrations exceeding the lower explosive limit. Investigators have also documented lead, industrial solvents and other contaminants at several former disposal sites.

At one former landfill in Fayetteville, methane concentrations measured more than twelve times the lower explosive limit. Other investigations beneath public parks in Durham and Charlotte uncovered elevated lead concentrations requiring closures and costly remediation efforts.

The audit does not identify similar conditions at any site in northeastern North Carolina.

A billion-dollar challenge

While agreeing with the audit’s conclusions, DEQ said the program faces financial obstacles far beyond its available resources.

According to the agency, cleaning up all remaining pre-regulatory landfill sites is estimated to cost approximately $1 billion — nearly nine times DEQ’s annual operating budget.

The agency said the Pre-Regulatory Landfill Program is funded primarily through a $2-per-ton municipal solid waste disposal fee, a rate that has remained unchanged since 2007 despite rising investigation and cleanup costs.

Because funding remains limited, DEQ said it will continue focusing on sites presenting the greatest potential risk while evaluating whether legislative changes or fee adjustments are needed to provide additional resources.

The audit likewise found that current funding allows the state to complete only about five or six sites each year. At that pace, auditors estimated it could take roughly 99 years to investigate the remaining sites, depending on future funding and the level of remediation required.

Access remains another hurdle

Funding is not the only obstacle.

Approximately 78% of the identified landfill sites are privately owned, meaning DEQ often cannot investigate without permission from the property owner.

The audit found some investigations have remained stalled for years because access agreements could not be reached.

In response, DEQ said it plans to strengthen its efforts to obtain access by increasing communication with property owners, coordinating with local health officials and, when warranted at high-risk locations, pursuing administrative warrants authorized under state law.

The agency also plans to establish new status categories that allow partial corrective actions to be completed while sites continue moving through the investigation process rather than waiting until full remediation can occur.