CHESAPEAKE
By asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a "preliminary site assessment" this week, Chesapeake has taken the first step toward having the Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville considered as a potential Superfund site, an EPA official said Friday.
As a Superfund site, investigated by EPA, the golf course could join a list of the nation's most contaminated properties and could receive federal cleanup dollars. Also Friday, Chesapeake's city attorney raised the possibility of extending public water to nearby homes if contaminants from the water under the golf course have spread into the wells that serve surrounding houses.
"We're going to do the responsible thing, which may have to include putting public water out there," City Attorney Ron Hallman said. "We're going to do what's necessary for public health. That's a lot of money, potentially."
Well tests conducted on the golf course, which is sculpted from 1.5 million tons of fly ash, showed elevated levels of arsenic, lead and other contaminants, city officials revealed at a meeting with residents Thursday. Water samples taken from nearby homes in April did not show signs of contamination.
The city's meeting effectively answered a question about the land that existed since The Virginian-Pilot's first report about it in March, apparently offering the first solid evidence that some environmental contamination has taken place on the golf course property.
The immediate issue now is whether the contaminants have moved into the water that serves the homes around the course - a few of which are immediately adjacent to the property. An environmental testing firm collected samples from more than a dozen homes Friday. The company will be on Whittamore Road and Murray Drive again this morning collecting more samples.
City officials promised results from the latest round of tests within three weeks, according to a letter delivered to residents late Thursday.
Robyn Pierce, who lives on Murray Drive, said she stopped using tap water the minute she read about the contaminants in Friday's newspaper.
"We're talking about a public health crisis," Pierce said. "It's incredibly disturbing."
Ellis O. Sivels, a retired longshoreman who has lived in the same Whittamore Road home for 48 years, looked on as a testing company bottled water from his bathroom sink. "If there's a problem, I'd just like for it to be solved," he said.
City Manager William Harrell's request for an EPA preliminary site assessment could mean a long process that eventually results in the property's being declared a Superfund site.
"That is the trigger to start the Superfund process," said Chris Wagner, an on-scene coordinator in the Richmond office of the EPA, who attended Thursday's meeting between city officials and residents who live near the golf course.
Triggering consideration for Superfund status for the site "isn't what we had in mind when we sent that letter," said Mark Cox, a city spokesman. "We just wanted to get the EPA involved."
Even so, Wagner said, she added the golf course to the EPA's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System, or CERCLIS, which means the EPA's Superfund program is looking at it.
Wagner said she will be meeting next with city officials and representatives of the state Department of Environmental Quality to assess the situation and determine a plan of action.
"We have to find out if it's migrating off the site," Wagner said.
While a second round of water tests is under way at nearly 30 homes close to the golf course, involving samples taken from kitchen taps, more will have to be done, she said.
Until the city gets results from Friday's and to day's testing, it would be "premature" to take more serious action, Harrell said Friday.
If contamination is discovered in homeowners' water, which comes from wells, the city will look for what Hallman called "responsible parties" to foot the bill for any costly public utilties upgrades. Those parties could include Dominion Virginia Power and the original developers of the golf course, CPM Virginia LLC, he said.
Hallman also defended the city's decision in 2001 to approve a permit for the course, saying the "city has done nothing wrong in the process."
When a Dominion Virginia Power representative came in front of the city asking for approval, Hallman said, the company provided officials with a report that gave a "clean bill of health" to fly ash, a residue left from the burning of coal for elecricity.
And Hallman said that it is up to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to regulate the use of fly ash.
"The city does not have legal authority to regulate fly ash," he said. "We've relied in good faith on Dominion Power, who has assured us it was safe, on DEQ, who has assured us it was safe, and others."
Dominion and the course's original developers long have maintained that the fly ash used on the course was treated to prevent contaminants from leaching. With tests on the golf club's wells showing high levels of arsenic and lead, Hallman said, he now has doubts about the information originally presented by Dominion.
Dominion officials had little to say Friday about the recent test results.
"We are setting up a meeting with the city and the golf course owners to discuss the latest information," said Dan Genest, a Dominion spokesman.
Staff writer Warren Fiske contributed to this report.
Robert McCabe, (757) 222-5217, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
I with the government . . .
I'm here to help.
it is up to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to regulate the use of fly ash.
Where were they during construction? Shouldn't they already be monitoring it now? DEQ should be held as accountable as the developer, engineer, contractor, operator, etc.
If we had nuclear power, this wouldn't be an issue.
What about ETHERIDGE LAKES?
So let me get this right, the City of Chesapeake has allowed, no endorsed, the creation of a Superfund site within a half mile of my home in Etherdge Lakes. We do not drink well water, but we do have lakes and we do water our lawns and gardens with well water. Real estate agents will be required to disclose a Superfund site within a half a mile of my house. Anyone with an internet connection can see the Superfund sites on a map. You have killed the future value of my home. Are you immediately reducing the property tax on my home? Are you compensating me now or when I try to sell? Thank you City Council for approving this and not doing your due diligence to protect the citizens. Thank you Hassell & Folkes for lying to the City Council about the safety of fly ash. Thank you Virginia Power for finding a cheap disposal site. This is one class action suit that I will sign up for!
Fly ash should be capped
An earlier photo in the Pilot showed where erosion exposed some of the fly ash. The fly ash is supposed to be capped properly. If maintenance of the facility is not kept up, then the current operators of the golf course could find themselves in serious trouble. Dominion has rules that are to be followed, and if the rules were not followed they will avoid serious fines and penalties. The original developer CPM Virginia LLC, has probably dissolved - or will VERY soon. That leaves the current operators responsible, but without deep enough pockets, the Feds will foot the bill.
Stupidity defined
This entire mess sounds like something that should be a plot for 'The Simpsons' or 'Family Guy' rather than reality. In this day and age, after the disaster of Love Canal and other places, you would think our so-called 'leaders' would have a better handle on things. People of Chesapeake: get ready to vote come November; you certainly deserve better leadership than what you've got now.
re: why the Celebratory note?
Good point, JS, and it seems the City Council and the Mayor of Chesapeake didnt expect this broadsiding.
The problem with cleaning up a Superfund is costly and takes a great deal of time. If I remember right, they have to scrape the soil till the contaminate is no longer present then monitor the site for a specific duration.
In other words, lots of dump trucks and monitoring stuff.
And the attitude of OH FREE MONEY isnt exactly free.. it comes from the taxpayers. The good news is, the City has to direct the funds to the specific clean up; it cant be diverted to anything else.
Why the celebratory tone?
Apart from the issues regarding how this project got approved, I'm wondering why this article and some readers seem to be taking the attitude "HOO-RAY! FREE FEDERAL MONEY!!"
Hardly. A Superfund designation is probably one of the worst things that could ever happen to property values, not just in the immediate vincinity (those owners could, possibly, be bought out), but in all the neighborhoods even remotely near the "toxic waste dump."
This is especially true in an area such as the Tidewater region because, just as the name implies, it's a low-lying area characterized by water moving around, drainage and wetlands. Even with city water, there will still be at least the perception, if not the reality, that there is a major toxic waste dump on Centreville.
Was there not a way to handle this and investigate it further without making a beeline for a horribly negative label that would define Ch
Who to hold accountable?
Why has everyone agreed to hold the engineers from Hassle and Folks harmless? If you listen to the questions of the Mayor at the 2001 meeting, he asked about this material directly and was assured that it was safe to use. The engineer from Hassle and Folks represetned themselves as the experts that could be relied upon to provide the lay-people like council-members assurances that they were making the right decission here. The engineer even stated that he was happy to work with the staff to write the staff report...
When an engineer represents the facts incorrectly, as a profesional he is responsible for his conduct and research. This private engineering firm should also be held liable for this fiasco. If not them, then who???
Oh boy.. Chesapeake and Superfund
Wow.. A superfund site in Chesapeake? If there is one time I really have a disdain for the Government and all of its entities, it isnt NOW. I wonder if they are checking the area for other problems and found the potential source of the drinking water problem?
And to be designated as a Superfund site is no laughing matter.. look at Times Beach Missouri and Love Canal.
I agree with
Thomas Paine. When I drove by the golf course this morning, I was thinking, this wasn't some dump site created in the 50's when environmental issues were not a concern. That is crazy that they are looking to designate something a superfund cleanup that was created less than a decade ago. There is really no excuse for that stupidity.
Superfund
If this site qualifies for superfund then someone should be asking serious questions concerning the use of this material. If there is no hazard, then why create a superfund site? And if the EPA decides fly ash is hazardous, then every site that used this material for fill should rightly be declared a superfund site. That would include areas surrounding road fill, like 168. No wonder the politicians are antsy.
Time to start going after the developers!
Time to go after the developers and city council members who did not get an independent appraisal of the risks before agreeing to what looks to be a huge nightmare for us residents. Didn't they mention in a previous article that it was Thelma Drake's nephew involved in the development of this project? Not sure if I am remembering correctly. I hope developers spend every last penny of their money paying to clean this up before our taxpaying dollars are used to fix this mess.
joanie06
Willis is a republican and she voted yes to Bell Harbor. If she voted No this whimsical project would not have been approved. Remember her vote in the 2010 election.
I saw the city council
I saw the city council meeting last week as well when they voted for Belharbour. For the record, all the democrats voted for and the republicans voted against. I hope we remember this when the residents of the new neighborhood sue the city for any number of reasons after the apartments are built.
Accountability
Here is how responsible they are, a few examples. From building Portlock Elementary school next to a railroad that hauls vast quantities of coal, when built and years afterwards there was no regulation on the fine coal dust this operation spewed and is probably still spewing out, exposing who knows how many children. The Vepco plant off Military Hwy. used to dump fine coal particles into the air, residents of Portlock would wake up to coal dust covered cars. They rushed and built areas off Fentress Road and such, then came "you can't drink the water" cause of super high salt levels which created plenty of work for plumbers and the like from corroding pipes, water heaters, etc. Who knows what health consequences came from that-long term and short? Now this crap comes at no surprise. It’s always been about money, never the people. Responsible…if it was not such a serious problem I would laugh.
Golf fundraiser for CERCLA fund??
So, let me get this straight...in order to save money for the golf course and to the potential players, this company built these so called "beautiful mounds" with Fly Ash buried within them in order to mold them better and to save money (see videos). Not too mention it was approved by the City. Real nice! Why would anyone build a business model like this...now you have a reputation as the toxic golf course. Were they expecting to hold big name tournaments there? Was it supposed to be a place to take the family for a nice golf outing???? Agree with many of the comments below, this should NOT have happened in this day and age. Residents around the area need to fight for their rights, not just settle for something simplistic, like having city water. This is disappointing to the City of Chesapeake on so many levels, it is CONCERNING to the citizens of Chesapeake on so many levels.
We didn't know????
Same old cop out. Here's a blast from the past. http://www.deq.state.va.us/export/sites/default/waste/pdf/superfund/chisman.pdf
Yorktown, that's a long way from Chesapeake. News travels slow. Then there's this superfund site of the future. http://www.deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/info/documents/GetTheFacts.Narrows.pdf But hey, no problem. The taxpayers will bail them out.
CERCLA
Abbreviated version: "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act aka Superfund, enacted by Congress December 11, 1980, created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to release or threatened release of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or environment. CERCLA established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites, provided for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites, and established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be identified. The law authorizes two kinds of response actions. Short-term removals requiring prompt response and long-term response that significantly reduce dangers associated with hazardous substances that are serious,
who will pay?
If Chesapeake has to pay; it's the taxpayers.
If the state of VA has to pay; it's the taxpayers.
If the EPA Superfund has to pay; it's the taxpayers.
If Dominion Virginia Power has to pay because of its bullxxxx story of 'treated' fly ash, the electric rates will accommodate such payment.
Whoever pays, it will be the taxpayer/consumer.
The Council should take a vote - 5-4
When the subject of imminent domain came up to condemn private property to allow a business to take over, the Chesapeake City Council voted 5-4 (Thanks Patty), to say, "OK" to the Belharbour Project. Now they just need to vote to condemn the golf course and all the property around it. But why stop there, this isn't a problem for the Council, they can simply vote on it. The left side will get this passed by the margin of 5-4, (again, thanks Patty, we thought you were a change).
Don't worry folks, Chesapeake can vote the left out in 2010 and that includes Patty.. Standing by..
Nothing will happen
No one will lose their jobs over this. That's not how things work in the government. No, they will say it was a decision made without all the facts and move on. The only loss that will occur will be from the peace and mind of all the residents of this area, along with a ton of money from taxpayers to pay for this mess we had nothing to do with. And you know what? The citizens won't do anything either. The days of running politicians through with a pitchfork are over. We are a kinder, gentler, and more ignorant citizenry now. Otherwise, deals like this one would never have seen the light of day in the first place.