COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

HOUSE OF DELEGATES
RICHMOND
UGO

SCOTT A. SUROVELL
PO BOX 289
MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA 22121

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:
CITIES, COUNTIES & TOWNS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
MILITIA, POLICE & PUBLIC SAFETY

FORTY-FOURTH DISTRICT

*****FORIMMEDIATERELEASE*****
June16th,2015

Moreinformation: NadineSlocum,LegislativeAide
571.249.4484

DELEGATESUROVELLURGESDEQTOPROTECTVIRGINIANSFROM
COALASH
Sen.PullerandDel.SurovellDemandActionToPreventPollutants
fromLeakingintoGroundwater

Mt.Vernon,VASenatorToddyPullerandDelegateScottSurovell(D44)urgedVirginia's
DepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality(DEQ)toreviewtheenvironmentalconsequencesof
toppingofffiveunlinedcoalashpondsinPrinceWilliamCountytoday.

TheletterwaspromptedbyDominion'sproposaltoclosethePossumPointPower
Stationpondsandleavethecoalashwasteinplace.Currentlytherearefewmeasuresto
preventthechemicalsfrominfiltratingQuanticoCreek,atributaryofthePotomacRiver,dueto
lackofregulationwhenthepondswereconstructed.

DelegateSurovellstated,"Wemustuseourstateresourcestoinvestigatetheongoing
pollutionproblemscausedbycoalashpondsandtakestepstoprotectfamiliesdependingon
privatewellsandpeoplewhouseQuanticoCreekandthePotomacRiverforfood,drinking
waterandrecreation.Damagecausedbycoalashwasteisnotgoingtogoawaybecausewe
drainthepondsandthrowalidonit.ItisvitalthatweprotectresidentshereinVirginiaby
ensuringthatthewaterfromthesenearbydrinkingwaterwellsisnotaffectedandremainssafe
todrink."

SenatorPullerstated,"IlookforwardtoworkingwithDominiontoresolvethisissuein
anenvironmentallyappropriateway."

Lastyear,theSouthernEnvironmentalLawCenterfiledaNoticeofIntenttoSue
LetterwiththeVirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualityonfailuretotakeactiontoclean
upthepollution.InApril,2015,Dominionannouncedthatitwasdrainingwaterfromthe
ponds.
DISTRICT: (571) 249-4484 RICHMOND: (804) 698-1044 EMAIL: delSSurovell@house.virginia.gov


Dominion'srecentrecommendationtoclosethesiteswouldleavecoalashwastein
placeinfourofthefiveponds.Evidencesuggestspondshaveleakedcoalashpollutionintothe
groundwaterforthepastthirtyyearsandacapinplaceclosureisaweakmeasurepreventcoal
ashfromleakingthroughthesidesandbottomsascomparedwithstepsbeingtakeninNorth
Carolina.

Furthermore,recentnewsarticlesregardingcontaminateddrinkingwaterwellslocated
nearcoalashpondsinNorthCarolinaindicate93%ofprivatedrinkingwaterwellstestedare
contaminated,manywithdangerousheavymetalslikehexavalentchromium,leadand
vanadium.NorthCarolinaandSouthCarolinaarenowrequiringcoalashpondsitestoempty
theirpondsandrelocatethistoxicwastetodrylinedlandfillstorageawayfromriversand
drinkingwatersources.

TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)alsoissuedruleslastmonthregardingcoal
ashremediationinresponsetorecentpollutionproblems.

CoalashatPossumPointhasbeenpreviouslycoveredinthePotomacLocal.
ColumnbyScottSurovell,"CoalAshPondsatPossumPointNearQuanticoPoseRiskto

Residents"(Apr.26,2015)
UriahKiser,"CoalAshPondatPossumPointPowerStationOutsideDumfriesWillBe
Drained"(Apr.27,2015)

Commonwealth of Virginia
General Assembly
RICHMOND

June15,2015

byemailandfirstclassmail
SecretaryMollyWard
OfficeoftheSecretaryofNaturalResources
PatrickHenryBuilding
1111EastBroadStreet
Richmond,VA23219

Re:PossumPointPowerStationCoalAshPonds
DearSecretaryWard,
IamwritingregardingthecoalashpondsatthePossumPointPowerStation,andDominions
March30,2015capinplaceproposal.

Asyouareaware,therearefiveoldcoalashpondsatthePossumPointsite,fourofwhichare
completelyunlined,andallofwhichcontaincoalashwastethatcontainshighlevelsofmetalsandother
contaminants.Thesepondspotentiallyleachnumerouspotentiallyharmfulpollutantsincluding
cadmium,selenium,arsenic,andzincallofwhichhavebeenpreviouslydocumentedindischarges
fromtheponds,oftenatlevelsexceedingstatestandards.Iamconcernedabouttheimpactthese
pollutantsmaybehavingonQuanticoCreek,apopularrecreationalandcommercialfisheryanda
tributaryofthePotomacRiverasmanyQuanticoCreekandfishcaughtinthePotomacRiverasafood
source.

Twogroundwatermonitoringwellsinclosestproximitytoresidencessampledandanalyzedin
2004showedlevelsofsomeconstituentsabovebackgroundbutthosewellsarecrossgradientanddo
notindicateamitigationtowardsresidentialdrinkingwaterwells.Thiswasconsistentwithprior
sampling.Althoughthosespecificwellshavenotbeensampledsince2004,anotherregularlysampled
groundwatermonitoringwellthatislocatedcrossgradientaswellindicatesthesameresult.

However,recentNorthCarolinanewsarticlesstatethat93%ofdrinkingwaterwellslocated
nearcoalashpondsarecontaminatedwithdangerousheavymetalslikehexavalentchromium,leadand
vanadium,andpublichealthagencieshaveadvisedresidentsnottodrinkorusewellwaterforcooking.
Stateagenciestherearenowrevisitingcoalashclosureplansasaresultofnewwelltestingdata.

ItisimportantfortheDEQandthepublictohavegoodinformationbeforeconsidering
Dominionscapinplaceproposalormakinganydecisionsabouthowtobestremediatethefivecoal


ashpondsatthisfacility.Therefore,Ihavetworequestsbeforeanydecisionsaremade:

(1) First,DEQshouldobtainallrecentsamplingdataformonitoringwellsED22RandED23R,
andthattheybetestedassoonaspossibleifnorecentmonitoringhasbeenconducted.

(2) ThatDEQworkwiththeVirginiaDepartmentofHealthtoofferfreetestingofprivate
drinkingwaterwellsforresidentslivingalongPossumPointRoadnearthecoalashponds,
todeterminewhetherthesewellshavebeenaffectedbytheongoingleaksfromtheponds
intogroundwater.DEQshouldalsoconsiderofferingthesamewatertestingtoresidents
livingincloseproximitytoothercoalashpondsthroughoutVirginia.

ThisconservativeapproachtoprotectingpublichealthhasbeenimplementedinNorthCarolina,and
wouldcertainlyassureVirginianslivingnearcoalashpondsthattheirwellwaterissafe.

Lastly,Iamconcernedaboutthefeasibilityofacapinplaceclosuresabilitytopreventponds
fromleakingthroughtheirsidesandbottoms.AsyouragencyconsidersDominionsproposal,Iurgeyou
toaddressthehistoryofcontaminationatthesite,andtomakesurethatanyclosureplanpermanently
haltsthedischargeofpollutantsfromthesecoalashpondsandprotectsQuanticoCreek,thePotomac
Riverandthehealthofnearbyresidents.

Ataminimum,DEQwouldbewellservedbyassessingthefeasibilityofatleasttakingthesame
precautionaryapproachasstateenvironmentalofficialsinSouthCarolinaandNorthCarolinahave
taken,inrequiringcoalashpondsitestoemptytheirpondsandrelocatethistoxicwastetodrylined
landfillstorageawayfromriversanddrinkingwatersources.Anapproachthatisconsistentwithother
stateswouldnotputVirginiaatanycompetitivedisadvantagetootherneighboringstates.

Thankyouforyourcarefulconsiderationofthismatter.Iwouldwelcometheopportunityto
speakwithyoufurtheraboutthisissue,ortobeofassistanceinensuringthatwefindalastingsolution
tothisproblem.

VeryTrulyYours,

SenatorLindaToddyPuller

36thDistrict

cc:

DelegateScottA.Surovell
44thDistrict

GovernorTerrenceR.McAuliffe
Hon.MarkR.Herring,AttorneyGeneraloftheCommonwealthofVirginia
Mr.DavidPaylor,DirectoroftheVirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality
Mr.WilliamA.HazelJr.,SecretaryofHealthandHumanResources
Mr.BobBlue,DominionResources