On July 31, 1978, Warren County authorities reported the discovery of an unknown oily substance sprayed along NC Highway 58 southeast of Warrenton. Similar reports soon emerged from fourteen other counties along 240 miles of roadsides during early August. Testing by the State of North Carolina revealed the liquid contained high levels of PCBs. Criminal investigations discovered that Transformer Sales of Allegany, NY, illegally dumped transformer oil containing PCBs on behalf of Ward Transformer Company of Raleigh, NC.
Roadside warning, ca. August 21, 1978
CHARLES S. KILLEBREW, NASH COUNTY, NC
The State of North Carolina posted warning signs throughout the counties where PCBs contaminated roadsides, such as this one near Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Charles S. Killebrew Photographic Collection
North Carolina Collection
“Location Map / PCB Spills,” April 1982
NC DEPARTMENT OF CRIME CONTROL AND PUBLIC SAFETY, RALEIGH, NC
Reproduced from Eileen Maura McGurty’s doctoral dissertation The Construction of Environmental Justice: Warren County, North Carolina, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995.
North Carolina Collection