CHESAPEAKE
Well tests conducted on a golf course sculpted from 1.5 million tons of fly ash have revealed elevated levels of arsenic, lead and other contaminants, prompting the city to request help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
At a hastily called meeting Thursday evening with residents who live near Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville, top city officials disclosed results of tests from three groundwater monitoring wells on the site, which showed some contamination in an aquifer, about 20 to 25 feet underground.
The test results, based on average readings from the three monitoring wells, found arsenic at eight times the drinking water standard and lead at more than five times the standard.
A copy of a July 16 letter from City Manager William E. Harrell to Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator of EPA, requested a “preliminary assessment of the site” by the agency based on data from an engineering consulting firm hired by the city.
“We are asking that your agency respond to this detection and provide support to our residents,” Harrell wrote.
Chris Wagner, an EPA representative based in Richmond, said the EPA will meet with the city and the Department of Environmental Quality next week. “Right now, we’re just trying to get our hands around the problem,” she said.
About 50 people attended the meeting, held at a church near the golf course, where city leaders tried to assure some worried residents that there is no evidence that any contamination has moved beyond the golf course.
“Certainly these results, from a public health perspective, are of concern and that’s why the city is responding as quickly as they are,” said Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department.
Water tests at homes in the vicinity of the golf course, conducted in April, did not find any significant contamination. There are about 60 homes in the immediate vicinity of the course and 200 potable wells within a 2,000-foot radius of its outer boundaries.
The city announced that additional water tests at nearly 30 homes to the east and south of the golf course – in the direction groundwater flows in the area – will be conducted today and Saturday.
The tests will be conducted by drawing samples from kitchen taps after first disconnecting water-softening systems, city officials said.
“We’re not talking about any immediate health concerns,” Welch said. “The issues related to these substances, the criteria that have been established in terms of the maximum allowable levels, are related to exposure over a number of years.”
Some residents responded with a mix of patient resignation – and some anger.
“I don’t like it one little bit, but I’m going to wait and see what’s going on,” said Emma Phillips, 65, who has lived in the Whittamore Road neighborhood just east of the golf course for most of her life.
Her well water had begun to smell like rotten eggs even before the construction of the golf course, though it’s more noticeable now, Phillips said.
“Since they’ve been there, it’s been worse,” she said, adding that she only drinks bottled water now.
Bob and Jean Stephenson, whose Murray Drive home backs up to the golf course , expressed frustration at continuing to have to pay real-estate and storm-water taxes for a home they consider worthless.
“We’re upset that we’re living in a house that’s basically worth nothing,” Jean Stephenson said.
“I couldn’t give it away,” her husband added.
The City Council unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for the golf course project on June 20, 2001.
The developers of the golf course were paid by Dominion Virginia Power to take 1.5 million tons of fly ash – a powdery residue left from the burning of coal for electricity – from Dominion’s Chesapeake Energy Center in the Deep Creek section of the city.
The fly ash was used to contour a rolling, 18-hole golf course on 217 acres that had been used as farmland for decades.
Fly ash is known to contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury, which pose threats to air and groundwater.
The developers were able to take advantage of state environmental regulations that encourage the recycling of fly ash as a “beneficial use,” as long as certain certifications are provided.
While groundwater monitoring wells and liners are required at a regulated fly-ash landfill on the grounds of Dominion’s Chesapeake plant, neither were required at the golf course under the state’s rules.
The golf course has several unlined “lakes” filled with groundwater, which are the course’s sole irrigation source.
The developers and Dominion officials say the fly ash used on the golf course was mixed with a binding agent to inhibit leaching.
The original developers of the golf course – CPM Virginia LLC, an offshoot of Combustion Products Management Inc. – sold the course to the current owners, Norfolk-based MJM Golf LLC in January 2007.
The course opened in the fall.
Robert McCabe, (757) 222-5217, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com
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I've got an idea
Isn't this near the OLF Fentress? Let the Navy buy all the land for the OLF, since no can live there with the water the way it is.
Golf course on Centerville
Being a resident of Centerville Farms off Land of Promise Rd. south of the golf course, I am worried about what recourse we have. I also called the city to have my name added to the list to get our water tested and was turned down saying my only recourse was to pay for a private lab testing, that if the first batch of testing was negative then we would have no reason to be tested. Well here we are now with positive tests results and seeing that water flows east and south, we will be right in the path of this mess.
I truly believe that everyone in the area who are on wells should be tested and retested and if they prove to be positive, then both the City and Dominion Power should be held accountable for the disaster they made.
If there is a time limit in which to file a complaint, then all the people on wells should be able to file it now and kept so that if and when a problem arises then all of us will be covered instead o
Joannie
I was being sarcastic. There has been a rash of blaming democrats for everything in these comment posts lately, so I was making fun of the ditto heads that just blame everything on democrats.
Falconski - no it is not, it
Falconski - no it is not, it is George Bush's fault. We need to vote for change to change the change we are currently changing.
take it out of
ex-mayor Bill Ward's pockets. They are filled with fly a$$ too. It is time to hold prior office holders responsible for the $ influenced decisions they have made. Make 'em pay. That will make the next bunch think twice...
What happens when first big storm of the year causes flooding?
It is not too far from rivers/streams that feed surrounding bays. What happens when we get the first big storm and it spreads this contamination further. Many people live in developments close, but not adjacent to the course and well water is extremely common. How much is the city going to pay to determine the spread and extent of the contamination over the upcoming years since it has already been identified in the aquifier?!?
Democrats
It's the democrats fault.
to the Tax Payers of Chesapeake
The Tax Payers of Portsmouth have a deal for you. We will trade you Queen Lucas and her convention center for your golf course. Then we can build a new court house on the golf course and make the judges and city council (of both cities) drink the water and tell us what a good deal it is.
moral turpitude
Take the city to the bank. NO citizen should have to put up with this BS.
time to go green
Some things you can't recycle. Fly ash is one of them. Duh!
A controversy decades ago
For some reason, this story reminds me of the Mount Trashmore development decades ago when many raised similar objections.
Lawsuits galore
I hope the city has a well padded fund for litigation, b/c this is a bomb waiting to explode. If contaminants have been found in the water, and if the residents have been suffering any adverse health effects, which may or may not be attributable to the contaminants, there will be lawsuits galore filed against the city..and the state could get pulled in as well. Question is, even if they find the contaminants in the water, what are they going to do with the golf course and its residents?
Fly ASH
If I understad what I am reading from this article it sounds like another IT IS not my JOB! Review the facts the CITY allowed this project because the STATE says it is OK to use FLY ASH even tho it is HAZARDOUS to LIFE!. Now that the CITY and STATE have gotten CAUGHT they are asking the FEDS to come BAIL There COMPLETE incompatance BUTTS out. I hope the FEDS tell them You Made the mess YOU FIX IT!!!
Common sense...
"Fly ash is known to contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury, which pose threats to air and groundwater." - I think that pretty much says it all, don't you? Now WHY would you use a compound such as that in any residential area or in a public facility like a golf course? Especially when you don't intend to use the linings to prevent it from getting into the ground. - "“We’re not talking about any immediate health concerns,” Welch said. “The issues related to these substances, the criteria that have been established in terms of the maximum allowable levels, are related to exposure over a number of years.” - you mean like the YEARS that people usually live in their houses? Or is that golf course only a temporary fixture? So IF people are exposed to these toxic materials, they wouldn't be getting sick today, but maybe 5 years down the road. Again I ask, why use these types of materials in re
Old tests?
I wonder if any tests were done BEFORE the fly ash was put down. The site was owned by a fertilizer compnay and was farmed for many years before the golf course was there. How many tons of fertilizer were dumped on the fields for how many years?
Pro-Active Research
before decision making is the most effective management tool for use by a local government. In this case, why didn't the city council ask for a sample of the fly ash before voting on it or put forth a stipulation that the project would be approved after an outside testing agency gave the city the ok on fly ash use. It seems as though our city took the word of another city that utilized this fly ash instead of having their own testing done. I would not consider testing by a local company as the best deciding factor here, we are talking about serious health risks. Another lessoned learned, THE HARD WAY.
Golf Course
I live in Southern Chesapeake and we've all known for years that it's a city that has been given over to the "good ole boy" network. Chesapeake has always been consistent about one thing, whose pockets get lined with how much money. C'mon, Va. Pilot, check out this angle to the story; the 168 Bypass below the Hanbury Exit was built with the same flyash. What about all the homes down this way around 168 using well water? What about all the new construction around the Bypass like the Edinburgh Developement? Are they going to close the Bypass because it's contaminating the surrounding area? Of course not. This golf course is caught in a political squeeze play because of the good ole boys in Chesapeake. Check and see how much business the other golf courses in the CHESAPEAKE area lost when this course opened. It's all connected to what's happening out at the Centerville course.
The continuing lies from everyone connected with the
City of Chesapeake are so blatant and obvious and so full of double talk, I'm amazed they can say the things they do with a straight face. All I can think is oh my, those poor people that live near that golf course. I don't generally advocate filing lawsuits, but it is my sincere hope that the homeowners have retained attorneys and sue the city and everyone connected with this environmental disaster for everything they're worth and then some.
who's to blame
Who allowed the fly ash to be dumped in the first place! Were there any studies done prior to. So if it was deemed safe to dump and cover over why put the golf course to blame now. The problem should have been discovered long before anything was approved to be built. Dig it all back up and send the bill to the City.
Another Lack of Investigation
This is just another prime example of our council jumping into projects without doing their due diligence. How many times must this happen before we the people chart a safer more investigative form of governing for our city, before taxpayer funds are spent and before the rush to complete dreams of grandeur projects that may have a negative effect on the health of Chesapeake citizens. This is really ashame.
Independant Consultant?
Did anyone notice who did the sampling? It was Kimley-Horne and Associates, Inc. The same consulting firm that has made many requests to the City for the approval of pet construction projects instigated by the so-called Chesapeake Economic Development Dept. At first, nothing was found, but upon resampling...It is past time that the city of Chesapeake started having concerns about welfare of the citizens instead of padding the pockets of developers and consultants. The Economic Development Dept. staff should be replaced by a competent Environmental Dept.
I am not surprised
Suddenly they are finding chemicals in the groundwater. My, my, after City Council approved the golf course application for a building permit for a clubhouse. Looks like they the found all the elements for a tasty chemical cocktail curtesy of the fly ash dump. I wonder how long the golf course owners have had these results so they can develop their latest excuse for elevated chemical levels. Again, I feel sorry for the residents on Murray Drive that have been impacted by this waste disposal site approved by the City Council of Chesapeake.