An old mill in Davidson, North Carolina, has drudged up old fears in the neighborhood because of asbestos found in water runoff.

The Metrolina Warehouse, near Charlotte, NC, was originally built in 1890 as the Linden Cotton Mill. Later, it became an asbestos factory between 1930 and 1960.

Carolina Asbestos manufactured asbestos fabric, tiles and shingles. Their waste products were dumped in a nearby ditch. Older residents in the area remember that the nearby creek was white and milky, reportedly from the asbestos.

At the time, in the 1960s, the health risks of asbestos were not known and high schoolers, residents claim, would play and splash in the creek.

One man, the Davidson mayor remembers this scenario, “We even rode our bicycles around to the back of the building once or twice a week, with a bet of what color the detention pond would be that day, whether it was asbestos green, or aqua, or white or some other color you can imagine of asbestos shingles.”

The recent problem has come up because, even though the Metrolina Warehouse has been vacant for some time, an Environmental Protection Agency representative noticed asbestos found after he saw a white residue in the nearby neighborhood.

Ken Rhame of the EPA said, “We saw asbestos containing material, or what we call suspect asbestos containing material, in the street. We sampled that material, got the results back the same day, which indicated that it was 70 percent asbestos.”

The officials studying the case in which found asbestos might be a hazard to local residents think that a groundhog caused the recent asbestos spill.

They think a groundhog burrowed into a soil cap from the 1980s and disturbed the asbestos. The asbestos found has since been cleaned up and a temporary cap is in process.

After Carolina Asbestos was no longer in business, Robert Kenyon of Charlotte purchased the property in 1976 and leased the space. He allegedly didn’t realize until eight years later that there was still asbestos found in and around the warehouse.

Kenyon’s daughters say that he had no idea that there was asbestos found in the warehouse when he purchased it. After his death in 2004, his daughters inherited the property but haven’t been able to do much with it even though it is considered prime real estate.

A developer wants to make the property into apartment buildings, however local residents don’t want the warehouse disturbed because of the asbestos found on site.

Residents say that there is a lot of fear that the asbestos will create more illnesses. Locals also are resentful of the history of what they call injustices. Allegedly, Carolina Asbestos did not take seriously reports dating to the 1930s of asbestos-related illnesses.

The EPA has scheduled a cleanup of the area and a permanent cap over the asbestos found near the old mill.