Va. activists urge federal oversight of fly ash dust

ARLINGTON

Residents who live near a Chesapeake golf course sculpted from fly ash joined a chorus of scientists, environmentalists and activists Monday in urging a federal program to regulate the black, toxic dust as a hazardous waste.

Stephen Fox, who blames the ash for causing his cancer, testified that the government needs to tightly control coal ash so others will not suffer the same fate as he and his neighbors.

When the Foxes bought their home near the Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville, "nothing was ever said to us about living next door to a toxic waste dump disguised as a golf course," he told a panel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Foxes have since gotten sick, their dogs have died, they have had to declare bankruptcy and have been forced to move away after selling their home at a huge loss, he told the panel.

The couple is suing Dominion Virginia Power and others involved in building the golf course with 1.5 million tons of fly ash generated from coal-powered power plants, including one in Chesapeake.

Officials from Dominion also testified Monday at the first of seven hearings scheduled around the country, saying they support EPA oversight of coal ash, but within reason.

Pamela Faggert, a vice president and chief environmental officer with Dominion, said the EPA should adopt a second, less aggressive rule that would not declare coal ash a hazardous waste, but still would demand utilities and power companies take new steps to prevent landfills and holding ponds from failing.

To pursue a harder line, Faggert said, could "cripple coal ash's beneficial uses," such as making concrete blocks and wallboard from the ash, and would "impose unnecessary regulatory costs on power plants, threatening jobs and increasing electricity costs."

Coal ash can contain arsenic, mercury, chromium and other dangerous chemicals. It is a known health and environmental risk.

Virginia ranks 16th in the nation for the amount of ash produced each year, according to EPA statistics, and hosts an estimated 21 ash landfills and impoundments, including three in Hampton Roads. A new ash landfill would accompany a coal-fired power station planned in Surry County, an hour west of Norfolk.

Under the Obama administration, the EPA announced its intention earlier this summer to impose first-ever federal regulations of coal ash, which also includes fly ash and slag. The proposal comes less than two years after a coal ash impoundment broke in Tennessee, flooding acres of land with wet ash.

More locally, it also comes as Dominion is poised to start corrective actions at an ash landfill near its Chesapeake Energy Center. Studies indicate that contaminants are leaking into the groundwater.

Dan Genest, a Dominion spokesman, said an old unlined pond beneath the Chesapeake landfill is the root of the problem. A public hearing about the measures aimed at containing and controlling the underground ooze is scheduled in September.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality opposed the proposed federal oversight program Monday, with an official saying regulatory changes should be left to the states.

But Lyndsay Mosely, a policy representative for the Sierra Club, an environmental group, countered that states have "failed time and again to adopt even basic standards" for managing coal ash.

Virginia adopted its regulatory program in 1993; it requires that landfills include liners and groundwater monitoring.

Still, Mosely argued, a federal program that defines coal ash as a hazardous waste is needed to once and for all address the subject seriously.

"It's a choice between protecting or neglecting," she said Monday.

Six neighbors of the Battlefield Golf Club in Chesapeake came to Arlington to tell their stories. They complained about losing their lives, their peace of mind, their homes and comfort.

Jasmine Andrews, a Chesapeake resident near the golf course who now attends Hampton University, said she would like to get married at her home, but worries about her health and those of her guests.

She said she cannot take a shower at home without "feeling an oily film" on her body, and that her family has to buy gallons of water to feel safe.

"The EPA needs to stand up and protect us," she told the panel.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com