The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
A former construction manager say s Dominion Virginia Power directed the building of a golf course in southern Chesapeake with 1.5 million tons of fly ash to disguise the project's true purpose - as a coal waste dump.
Derrick Howell, at the time an employee of the golf course's builder, said Dominion project managers were driven by how much of the material they could put in the 217-acre site, according to a sworn statement filed this month in Circuit Court.
"It was clear that a golf course wasn't being built," stated Howell, who worked on the project for three years. "It was a coal ash dump. All Dominion ever cared about was tonnage and how much more they could dump."
The accusations came in a second lawsuit filed against Dominion Virginia Power, Combustion Products Management, VFL Technology, Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville owners MJM Golf LLC, and several related companies.
Coal ash, the powdery by-product of some coal-burning power plants, contains heavy metals that can be hazardous when inhaled or ingested through contaminated water.
The suit maintains that the material has begun to leach into the groundwater feeding two neighborhoods in Chesapeake's Fentress section. It seeks $1.25 billion to remove the fly ash, clean and restore the site, and bring public water and sewer to the neighborhoods. It also seeks millions more to pay for homes, properties, medical bills and the nuisance created by the development.
Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle said the company believes it has acted properly. Preliminary tests by the federal Environmental Protection Agency have shown no drinking water contamination arising from the golf course's construction, he said.
A suit filed by 400 residents in March from neighborhoods surrounding Battlefield Golf Club is asking more than $1 billion in damages.
The new suit was brought by 62 homeowners and family members in the neighborhoods.
"We believe this second lawsuit also is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously in court," Norvelle said in a statement.
Lawyers and representatives for other companies named in the suit did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Ted Yoakam, an attorney for the residents, declined to comment.
The new suit contains additional charges that Dominion Virginia Power and its partners hid the risks of burying tons of coal ash in the middle of two residential communities.
It charges that the company has known for decades about the risks of burying the material. It also states that Dominion deliberately misled residents and city officials by describing the material as "safe as dirt."
In his sworn statement, Howell said he has worked for companies shaping golf courses throughout the country. In 2001, he was hired by CPM, with Dominion's approval, to build the planned 18-hole golf course.
Howell met at least a dozen times with supervisors at Dominion and CPM, according to court records. Dominion officials visited the site at least every other month and saw coal ash sitting in water. The officials also told Howell the material, which had been processed to make it more stable, was "safe as dirt."
"Dominion Power directed the project and was primarily concerned with dumping the coal ash," Howell said. "I was told that coal ash was stockpiling at Dominion's plant landfill, so they had to ship it for deposit."
At a private meeting with his boss and a Dominion official, the men discussed how the golf course was being built incorrectly. The Dominion official acknowledged the problems but said, "there was nothing he could do, the golf course was 'too far along' and the 'lawyers would turn me down,' " according to Howell.
Howell said he quit CPM after the 2003 meeting, and has started his own business, Premier Earth Shaping Inc. He did not return a phone call to his business.
Residents in both suits are seeking jury trials in Chesapeake courts. Dominion has asked a judge to dismiss the initial suit because it failed to meet basic legal standards.
The parties appeared before Circuit Court Judge Randy Smith on Wednesday to proposed a schedule for future hearings.
Staff writer Mike Saewitz contributed to this report.
Louis Hansen, (757) 222-5221, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Law Suit
The city should be sued also, for allowing this course to be built with fly ash in the first place. What a Joke this has turned out to be.
There's no such thing as 'clean coal'
If one takes a cup of coal fly ash and has it tested, you find out it is loaded with dangerous chemicals that are poisonous to people and wildlife. To say that Dominion Power didn't know this when they released fly ash for the golf course is like saying tobacco companies didn't know their cigarettes and other tobacco products cause cancer and other illnesses.
All the people from Dominion Power and their lawyers that have been involved in this project should have to drink water that has been strained through a bucket of fly ash from the site. I doubt any of them would be willing to do that.
Thelma'Drake's Son
Is this golf course/arsenic dump still owned by Thelma Drake's son? How did her son come to be involved in this project to begin with?
As for health hazards; the workers should have been told absolutely what they were working with, so precautions would have been taken. This had happen in other areas of the country so the people exposed need to get seen by proper medical authorities.
finallt the truth comes out
A year before the golf course job started, a company out of North Carolina misused coal ash on two jobs. This resulted in the comtamination of the ground water in Lumberton NC and in Richmond Va it caused the removal of ash under a Home Depot and several apt bldgs. This killed the market for ash in the entire region. It had been used under highways and buildings as long as it was covered and sealed so that it was not exposed to rain. Va Power was stuck with ash no one wanted. They had to find a place for it until the clean burn plant was finished or risk voilating the landfill agreement at its plant in Chesapeake. The company that was managing the ash at Chesapeake saw this coming and left instead of getting involved in this mess. Combustion Products moved in and thought they would make a profit and move on leaving the "landfill" as a golf course.
Another example of a company's greed costing the taxpayer.
Remember this
Remember this story, and others like it, when you hear Dominion talking about building a new "Clean Coal" plant. The only thing they have cleaned up is the air from the smokestacks. There is still Fly Ash, there is still CO2, there is still mountain tops being removed.
I worked on this golf course
I worked on this golf course for two months moving a lot of dirt with a bobcat and digging holes with a ditch witch and I was never warned by MJM about the fly ash or its potential hazards. Could this type of work cause health problems in the future? Should I be concerned since we never wore masks?
Please contact me if you have any additional information
golphcart@cox.net
golf course
Lem worked at the course for 4 years without any protective clothing--many worked there for several years. No one has suffered any health problems--that's because the ash is not hazardous. All the hysteria is not true--there is no hazard or contamination. The newspaper has created this entire mess without any evidence.