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COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
HOUSE OF DELEGATES RICHMOND
DISTRICT: (571) 249-4484 RICHMOND: (804) 698-1044 EMAIL:
[email protected]
UGO
SCOTT A. SUROVELL PO BOX 289
MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA 22121
FORTY-FOURTH DISTRICT
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: CITIES, COUNTIES & TOWNS SCIENCE
& TECHNOLOGY MILITIA, POLICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
*****FORIMMEDIATERELEASE*****
June16th,2015Moreinformation: NadineSlocum,LegislativeAide
571.249.4484DELEGATESUROVELLURGESDEQTOPROTECTVIRGINIANSFROM
COALASHSen.PullerandDel.SurovellDemandActionToPreventPollutants
fromLeakingintoGroundwater
Mt.Vernon,VASenatorToddyPullerandDelegateScottSurovell(D44)urgedVirginia'sDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality(DEQ)toreviewtheenvironmentalconsequencesoftoppingofffiveunlinedcoalashpondsinPrinceWilliamCountytoday.
TheletterwaspromptedbyDominion'sproposaltoclosethePossumPointPowerStationpondsandleavethecoalashwasteinplace.CurrentlytherearefewmeasurestopreventthechemicalsfrominfiltratingQuanticoCreek,atributaryofthePotomacRiver,duetolackofregulationwhenthepondswereconstructed.
DelegateSurovellstated,"WemustuseourstateresourcestoinvestigatetheongoingpollutionproblemscausedbycoalashpondsandtakestepstoprotectfamiliesdependingonprivatewellsandpeoplewhouseQuanticoCreekandthePotomacRiverforfood,drinkingwaterandrecreation.Damagecausedbycoalashwasteisnotgoingtogoawaybecausewedrainthepondsandthrowalidonit.ItisvitalthatweprotectresidentshereinVirginiabyensuringthatthewaterfromthesenearbydrinkingwaterwellsisnotaffectedandremainssafetodrink."
SenatorPullerstated,"IlookforwardtoworkingwithDominiontoresolvethisissueinanenvironmentallyappropriateway."
Lastyear,theSouthernEnvironmentalLawCenterfiledaNoticeofIntenttoSueLetterwiththeVirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualityonfailuretotakeactiontocleanupthepollution.InApril,2015,Dominionannouncedthatitwasdrainingwaterfromtheponds.
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Dominion'srecentrecommendationtoclosethesiteswouldleavecoalashwasteinplaceinfourofthefiveponds.EvidencesuggestspondshaveleakedcoalashpollutionintothegroundwaterforthepastthirtyyearsandacapinplaceclosureisaweakmeasurepreventcoalashfromleakingthroughthesidesandbottomsascomparedwithstepsbeingtakeninNorthCarolina.
Furthermore,recentnewsarticlesregardingcontaminateddrinkingwaterwellslocatednearcoalashpondsinNorthCarolinaindicate93%ofprivatedrinkingwaterwellstestedarecontaminated,manywithdangerousheavymetalslikehexavalentchromium,leadandvanadium.NorthCarolinaandSouthCarolinaarenowrequiringcoalashpondsitestoemptytheirpondsandrelocatethistoxicwastetodrylinedlandfillstorageawayfromriversanddrinkingwatersources.
TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)alsoissuedruleslastmonthregardingcoalashremediationinresponsetorecentpollutionproblems.
CoalashatPossumPointhasbeenpreviouslycoveredinthePotomacLocal.
ColumnbyScottSurovell,"CoalAshPondsatPossumPointNearQuanticoPoseRisktoResidents"(Apr.26,2015)
UriahKiser,"CoalAshPondatPossumPointPowerStationOutsideDumfriesWillBeDrained"(Apr.27,2015)
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Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly
RICHMOND
June15,2015byemailandfirstclassmailSecretaryMollyWardOfficeoftheSecretaryofNaturalResourcesPatrickHenryBuilding1111EastBroadStreetRichmond,VA23219
Re:PossumPointPowerStationCoalAshPondsDearSecretaryWard,
IamwritingregardingthecoalashpondsatthePossumPointPowerStation,andDominionsMarch30,2015capinplaceproposal.
Asyouareaware,therearefiveoldcoalashpondsatthePossumPointsite,fourofwhicharecompletelyunlined,andallofwhichcontaincoalashwastethatcontainshighlevelsofmetalsandothercontaminants.Thesepondspotentiallyleachnumerouspotentiallyharmfulpollutantsincludingcadmium,selenium,arsenic,andzincallofwhichhavebeenpreviouslydocumentedindischargesfromtheponds,oftenatlevelsexceedingstatestandards.IamconcernedabouttheimpactthesepollutantsmaybehavingonQuanticoCreek,apopularrecreationalandcommercialfisheryandatributaryofthePotomacRiverasmanyQuanticoCreekandfishcaughtinthePotomacRiverasafoodsource.
Twogroundwatermonitoringwellsinclosestproximitytoresidencessampledandanalyzedin
2004showedlevelsofsomeconstituentsabovebackgroundbutthosewellsarecrossgradientanddonotindicateamitigationtowardsresidentialdrinkingwaterwells.Thiswasconsistentwithpriorsampling.Althoughthosespecificwellshavenotbeensampledsince2004,anotherregularlysampledgroundwatermonitoringwellthatislocatedcrossgradientaswellindicatesthesameresult.
However,recentNorthCarolinanewsarticlesstatethat93%ofdrinkingwaterwellslocated
nearcoalashpondsarecontaminatedwithdangerousheavymetalslikehexavalentchromium,leadandvanadium,andpublichealthagencieshaveadvisedresidentsnottodrinkorusewellwaterforcooking.Stateagenciestherearenowrevisitingcoalashclosureplansasaresultofnewwelltestingdata.
ItisimportantfortheDEQandthepublictohavegoodinformationbeforeconsidering
Dominionscapinplaceproposalormakinganydecisionsabouthowtobestremediatethefivecoal
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ashpondsatthisfacility.Therefore,Ihavetworequestsbeforeanydecisionsaremade:(1)
First,DEQshouldobtainallrecentsamplingdataformonitoringwellsED22RandED23R,
andthattheybetestedassoonaspossibleifnorecentmonitoringhasbeenconducted.
(2)
ThatDEQworkwiththeVirginiaDepartmentofHealthtoofferfreetestingofprivatedrinkingwaterwellsforresidentslivingalongPossumPointRoadnearthecoalashponds,todeterminewhetherthesewellshavebeenaffectedbytheongoingleaksfromthepondsintogroundwater.DEQshouldalsoconsiderofferingthesamewatertestingtoresidentslivingincloseproximitytoothercoalashpondsthroughoutVirginia.
ThisconservativeapproachtoprotectingpublichealthhasbeenimplementedinNorthCarolina,andwouldcertainlyassureVirginianslivingnearcoalashpondsthattheirwellwaterissafe.
Lastly,Iamconcernedaboutthefeasibilityofacapinplaceclosuresabilitytopreventpondsfromleakingthroughtheirsidesandbottoms.AsyouragencyconsidersDominionsproposal,Iurgeyoutoaddressthehistoryofcontaminationatthesite,andtomakesurethatanyclosureplanpermanentlyhaltsthedischargeofpollutantsfromthesecoalashpondsandprotectsQuanticoCreek,thePotomacRiverandthehealthofnearbyresidents.
Ataminimum,DEQwouldbewellservedbyassessingthefeasibilityofatleasttakingthesame
precautionaryapproachasstateenvironmentalofficialsinSouthCarolinaandNorthCarolinahavetaken,inrequiringcoalashpondsitestoemptytheirpondsandrelocatethistoxicwastetodrylinedlandfillstorageawayfromriversanddrinkingwatersources.AnapproachthatisconsistentwithotherstateswouldnotputVirginiaatanycompetitivedisadvantagetootherneighboringstates.
Thankyouforyourcarefulconsiderationofthismatter.Iwouldwelcometheopportunitytospeakwithyoufurtheraboutthisissue,ortobeofassistanceinensuringthatwefindalastingsolutiontothisproblem.
VeryTrulyYours,
SenatorLindaToddyPuller DelegateScottA.Surovell36thDistrict
44thDistrict
cc: GovernorTerrenceR.McAuliffe
Hon.MarkR.Herring,AttorneyGeneraloftheCommonwealthofVirginia
Mr.DavidPaylor,DirectoroftheVirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality
Mr.WilliamA.HazelJr.,SecretaryofHealthandHumanResources
Mr.BobBlue,DominionResources
