At Possum Point in Dumfries, which hails near Quantico Creek where it meets the Potomac River, over 4 million cubic yards of coal ash lie from a Dominion Energy power plant that inhabited the space from 1948 to 2003. Though Dominion has not burned coal using the power plant in nearly two decades (the station is now used for natural gas), coal combustion residuals, or CCR, from years of burning fossil fuels now remain in a single pond.
Coal ash “contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Without proper management, these contaminants can pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water, and the air,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
In light of a 2019 Virginia law that directs the utility to recycle and dispose of ash from its four power stations–Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Bremo, and Possum Point–Dominion has developed potential plans to do just that at Possum Point, though it doesn’t necessarily have to recycle ash from this particular site so long as it recycles a collective 6.8 million cubic yards from the four stations. The utility has 15 years to do so.
Now, Dominion believes the best option for disposing of Possum Point’s ash is building an on-site landfill — but officials aren’t so sure.
Potomac District Supervisor Bailey believes that the county shouldn’t just go with Dominion’s initial recommendation of keeping the coal ash on site in a landfill, but rather discuss and further understand what the varying options for disposal could mean in the long run. She says her residents don’t want the ash to remain there — though she notes that methods of disposal using trucks could be more of a detriment to the community, as narrow roadways in need of reconstruction could mean that ash removal by truck is inefficient.
Throughout the past decade, environmentalists and lawmakers, like former Gov. Ralph Northam, have championed for ash disposal and regulations to combat the potential risks unlined ash ponds hold to public health and water quality.
Groundwater Concerns and Results
Residents and environmental leaders have raised concerns over the CCR conditions at Possum Point for years, mostly regarding the potential dangers of ash near drinking water.
There may have been cause for concern: The Potomac Riverkeeper Network, an organization that works on the protection of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, allegedly found that carcinogens from the coal ash at Possum Point had leaked into groundwater. But the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) determined that the materials found in the water were not at high enough levels to be considered dangerous to health and safety.
For residents concerned about potential health impacts, Spencer Adkins, Dominion’s director of power generation projects, says that the company is and has been taking steps to test water near Possum Point and has offered to connect residents to the county water rather than private wells, as required by law.
Dominion says that groundwater monitoring is required for Possum Point by the federal CCR Rule and its solid waste permit with DEQ. The samples are gathered from wells installed by the site’s CCR units.
“While some monitoring results are above applicable groundwater protection standards, impacts are limited to our property. There are no drinking water wells downgradient of the ponds, and our surface water sampling in Quantico Creek also shows no impacts from the ponds,” Dominion says.
But Golder’s 2021 report of the groundwater at the Possum Point station notes that certain materials in the groundwater evaluation exceeded the method detection and reporting limits (This does not determine the safety of the water — and overall the quality of the groundwater did not significantly change from years past.) Dominion explains that this is because those limits are intentionally low.
“These limits are typically very low to ensure even the smallest concentrations can be identified,” Dominion says.
Groundwater safety is not the only thing for which Dominion has received scrutiny. The utility faced penalties from the state after allegations about unregulated ash dumping.
In 2020, Dominion agreed to pay a $1.4 million fine for allegedly violating permits at two of its power stations upon facing a suit from the state’s attorney general. One of these stations was Possum Point — where the utility allegedly dumped 27.5 million gallons of ash water into Quantico Creek between March and April 2015 without sufficient advance notice.
In response to the issues identified in this consent decree, Dominion notes that it performed an extensive evaluation of the program it uses to ensure environmental compliance. “Most of the issues had already been self-reported with corrective actions put in place immediately,” the utility says. Dominion says that they have maintained full compliance of this consent decree with regard to the auditing, monitoring, training, and reporting requirements.
“Protecting our environment and keeping our communities safe is a responsibility that Dominion Energy takes very seriously,” Dominion says.
Ash Disposal
The ash disposal process at the Possum Point site has changed from sealing the ash in its place to disposing the ash, thanks to the state’s evolving environmental laws. After ash spills in Tennessee and North Carolina changed CCR laws and regulations on a federal level, community environmentalists — like the Potomac Riverkeeper Network — and lawmakers pushed for change state-wide to protect waterways.
In 2017, Dominion wanted to simply seal the ash at Possum Point, leaving it in its current place, Pond D.
But with Northam’s 2019 approval of the bipartisan SB-1355, which requires that operators “beneficially reuse,” i.e. recycle, CCR or deposit it in a permitted and line landfill, Dominion had to change its plans of simply sealing the ash pond, which was banned in the law. Prior to the bill’s passage, under federal regulations, the ash at Possum Point did not have to be disposed of off site, but simply through a landfill or surface impoundment.
Northam noted that the bill “represents a key breakthrough in preserving our natural resources and protecting water quality,” and ensures that the coal ash is disposed of in the safe, most environmentally friendly way.
In January, Dominion presented four different disposal options for the Possum Point’s ash removal.
The utility’s preferred option for the ash disposal is leaving it on site, with the coal placed into a landfill hole with synthetic lining. This particular avenue for disposal would remove the ash from the pond but not the site itself. Adkins notes that most landfills just have to have one liner to meet federal regulations, but Dominion plans to exceed those guidelines with a double liner system.
The double liner has a leachate collection system, which takes any water that comes into the ash through piping that drains the water and prepares it to be treated. It’s a requirement from the DEQ that this system is in place.
“It’s going to be the best landfill there is, really, and we don’t foresee any issues with it. So I think long term, that’s our preference,” Adkins says. “Not only is it, I think, the best environmental solution, but it’s also good for the ratepayer, for the customer in the end.”
The other options for CCR removal from Possum Point include recycling half the ash and transporting the remainder to a landfill by either truck or rail, or removing all the ash to a landfill by rail.
Adkins explained that Dominion has to balance the costs between its sites — it’s not just ash at Possum Point which has to be beneficially reused or place in a landfill: the Chesterfield, Bremo, and Chesapeake power stations all have to do something with their CCR.
Northern Regional Office Director Thomas Faha says that DEQ does not necessarily have an opinion one way or the other as to what Dominion does to dispose of the ash, noting that the entity will make sure “whatever they’re going to do is in accordance with laws and regulations.”
Adkins also noted in the January presentation that any inclusion of removing the ash from the site itself would result in higher rates for consumers — though it’s not exactly clear what they could see reflected in their bill, as Adkins says it would rather depend on other projects the utility has in the works.
“Dominion looks at their overall, all the projects that company is doing — the company will look at all the revenue and everything that’s going on in the company, and then they’ll factor this project into their overall accounting,” he says. Peggy Fox, who works for Dominion’s media relations, says that Dominion believes this on site option will be the least impactful on the community.
While Adkins did not have exact numbers on how consumer rates would be impacted, in developing the 2019 bill, lawmakers said that the proposal would eventually add about $5 to monthly electric bills. The bill also “provides that all costs associated with closure of a CCR unit shall be recoverable through a rate adjustment clause authorized by the State Corporation Commission,” meaning Dominion can see recovery costs (which are subject to an annual cap) provided that it follows the specific stipulations for receiving such funds.
In an April 4 meeting in which Adkins took questions from the community about the ash disposal process, one resident commented on the Facebook livestream, saying, “I would personally rather pay a higher energy rate for any option other than the on site landfill.” It is unclear if increased rates would affect consumers statewide.
In the event that Dominion does recycle the ash at Possum Point or transport it to an off site landfill, the contractor Dominion works with will then be responsible for what happens as it’s traveling and once it reaches its destination. Adkins noted that one of the reasons Dominion wants to maintain that ash on site is so that it can exercise that control over the ash’s care.
Bailey says that as Dominion works with the local government to come to a consensus on what happens to Possum Point’s ash, there’s room for residential input.
“It’s an opportunity for the community and big business to come together for the betterment of the community and of the county,” Bailey says of the ash disposal process, noting she believes Dominion can work with both officials and residents to choose the best option.
State Senator Scott Surovell says that there’s a lot of potential for the land on Possum Point. He pointed to the Alexandria Mirant Power Plant, also called the Potomac River Generating Station, as an example. The shuttered station was purchased by Hilco in 2020 for redevelopment. Hilco has been holding community meetings to determine what exactly might be implemented at the site.
“The best option is the one that best meets the long-term vision for the property,” Surovell says of what should be done with Possum Point’s ash. He noted that the community and the Board of Supervisors need to figure out exactly what that long-term vision is.
Bailey and her office have arranged a task force to address Possum Point’s ash. The task force comprises 11 people, including community members, from environmentalists to developers, and representatives from the district office and Prince William County. Dominion has also been involved in discussions with the task force.
She notes that the task force was “formed collaboratively to create, as much as we can, a win-win solution to the problem,” also noting that the different subject matter experts on the task force are meant to ensure that “voices are heard from every perspective.”
A representative from the task force said that the task force would present to Dominion the potential option of recycling 50 percent of the ash at Possum Point via barge, a freight boat — an option that other residents advocated for in the meeting on April 4. If that option does not work out, the task force is looking to discuss the landfill option, followed by utilizing the site for public use.
“What’s the sustainability for that next step as it relates to the people and the land, the environment, as it relates to keeping the beauty of the community,” she says of what the task force will decide in its eventual recommendation. Adkins notes there is no specified date as to when an option will be determined, and Tonya James, Bailey’s chief of staff, says Dominion is awaiting an answer from Prince William County staff to determine how the project will move forward.
Rebecca Horner, a deputy county executive in Prince William, says that Dominion’s preferred option of a landfill may require a public facility review by the Planning Commission.
“In early March 2022, Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) submitted a request to County staff to determine whether the County will require a public facility review before Dominion can construct a new landfill on-site at Possum Point to dispose of the coal ash which is already stored on-site in Pond D. County staff is currently reviewing Dominion’s request,” she says.
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