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The Possum Point Coal Plant wants to release the ash ponds into the Potomac.
read it and decide if you want to get involved.
http://www.potomacriverkeepernetwork.org/possum-point/
Capt Mike
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I meant to post this up...thanks!
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One side of the story. Wonder what the other side is saying..........sure the truth is somewhere in between.
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Curly wrote:
Wonder what the other side is saying
What could "they" be saying?
The Riverkeepers have done a great job especially on the 'doah.
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Read the documents. It is obvious that Dominion intends to remediate several coal ash ponds without liners and place the coal ash into containment facilities that have liners. Looks like they are trying to do the right thing. DEQ has given a draft permit that contains limits and regulations to any water that would be discharged into Quantico Creek or the Potomac. Dominion would have to follow those limits and regulations. The SELC suit letter essentially drags Duke Power and other power company's past ash pond overflow problems from 2-4 years ago into the issue. SELC also makes claims to toxic metal excess flow from the Dominion ponds at the sites........not in Quantico Creek or the Potomac, yet no factual values or published studies. Essentially, PRKN and SELC want Dominion to remediate the ash to dry containment facilities that are not required by EPA or DEQ.
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This is about not trusting what Dominion plans on doing if they make a mistake. And many of those (mistakes) have been made in recent past at other locations.
Monopolies are hard to trust.....
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EPA and DEQ have full legal and regulatory oversight, plus enforcement action if required. Don't think the lawyers in Chapel Hill can force something that is not even a regulation or law right now.
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Completely understand.
Duke energy had that big spill last year.....they paid a hefty fine but they still had the spill.
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Ernie wrote:
Completely understand.
Duke energy had that big spill last year.....they paid a hefty fine but they still had the spill.
We are on the same page. Dominion wants to put a physical cap on the pond(s) so that there can be no heavy rain runoff and dam busting like what happened to Duke............With lawyers involved now......it might be years before the ponds can be remediated.
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Just posted some bad news on the thread I had started.....
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Just reporting what is written......
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Virginia Dominion Power last spring released 33.7 million gallons of untreated coal-ash water into Quantico Creek, the utility confirmed to InsideNoVa.com last week.
As part of the ongoing cleanup ahead of the eventual closure of five coal ash ponds at the Dumfries-area power plant, Dominion drained a total of 52.5 million gallons of untreated coal-ash water from one of those ponds last May.
The top 33.7 million gallons -- or about 51 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth -- were released into Quantico Creek, Dominion spokesman Dan Genest told InsideNoVa.com in an email Feb. 4.
The revelation comes ahead of the Prince William Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting, during which they are scheduled to hear a presentation from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality officials about Dominion’s coal ash plans.
Those plans include treating and draining about 200 million additional gallons of coal ash water into Quantico Creek -- and the adjacent Potomac River -- and then capping the ash in place in the largest pond on site, which has a clay liner. The pond will be topped with a synthetic liner, about two feet of soil and planted over with grass.
As was routine across the country, Dominion used ponds to store the tons of toxic coal ash that accumulated at the power plant during the time it burned coal to make electricity, from the plant’s construction in 1948 to 2003. The plant now burns natural gas.
Dominion says its closure plans comply with new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules for coal ash disposal and are aimed at safely containing the toxic ash so it does not leak into the ground water or contaminate the Quantico Creek and the adjacent Potomac River. Coal ash contains toxic metals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium and chromium.
But critics, including the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, say state officials have already allowed Dominion to contaminate Quantico Creek and the Potomac, as evidenced by the May draining of one pond, and via a “toe drain” that DEQ officials acknowledged in December has likely been leaking coal ash contaminated water for decades.
The DEQ State Water Control Board on Jan. 14 approved a permit modification to allow Dominion to go forward with its plans to treat and flush the remaining 200 gallons of coal ash water from the largest pond.
Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks said his group has received conflicting information from Dominion and DEQ officials about the draining of untreated coal-ash water into Quantico Creek, and wants tan EPA investigation into a possible violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
“We are demanding an EPA investigation,” Naujoks said Sunday. “The head of [DEQ] misled the public about dumping 30 million gallons of contaminated, untreated coal-ash water into Quantico Creek and the Potomac River. We feel the permit needs to be revoked based on this new information.”
In emails sent to the EPA Criminal Investigation Division in June and again in January, Naujoks said a June flyover of the ponds revealed “a pumping mechanism, lighting and piping,” leading from one pond to an adjacent tributary of Quantico Creek that suggested the pond water was drained at night.
Naujoks said the handling of the incident suggests Dominion cannot be trusted to follow the self-reporting stipulations outlined in the permit modification the utility received from DEQ’s State Water Control Board Jan. 14.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network announced last week it will appeal the permit.
DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden has not responded to a Jan. 15 request for comment except to say the agency “is looking into” whether DEQ knew Dominion drained one of the ponds last May and whether the action complies with utility’s existing Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VDPES) permit, which allows the utility to discharge storm water that collects on the top of the coal ash ponds into Quantico Creek.
That’s the explanation Pamela Faggert, Dominion’s vice president and chief environmental officer, gave in a Jan. 14 interview conducted after the State Water Control Board meeting.
At the time, Faggert said she didn’t know how much water was drained from the pond but that it was only “surface water” that had no contact with the coal ash sitting on the bottom of the pond.
Faggert said the draining stopped short of reaching “commingled water,” which is contaminated by the ashy sludge.
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And it keeps on keeping on.......
Prince William to sue state over coal-ash permit; Jill Palermo, InsideNoVA
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to join the legal fight against Dominion Virginia Power’s plan to treat and flush an estimated 200 million gallons of coal-ash water from Possum Point power plant into Quantico Creek.
The board approved a resolution effectively allowing the county to spend up to $100,000 to pay a Richmond-based law firm, Aqua Law, to appeal a permit modification the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s State Water Control Board granted the utility last month.
The permit modification sets limits on the daily flow of treated coal ash water into the creek and details a self-monitored testing regimen Dominion must follow during and after its coal-ash pond cleanup.
The permit modification has come under fire, however, from state lawmakers, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, a regional agency that regulates recreational and commercial fishing. They contend the DEQ set insufficient limits on dangerous metals associated with coal ash, including arsenic, lead, mercury and chromium.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, announced its intent appeal the permit modification Feb. 1.
The supervisors vote came after they returned from closed session, during which they discussed either joining the Potomac Riverkeeper Network’s lawsuit against the state regulators or filing their own appeal.
Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, said the board decided to sue independently because the option offered “the strongest, most aggressive avenue to get us some resolution on this issue.”
Principi, one of the first local elected officials to sound the alarm on Dominion’s coal-ash plans, called the impending cleanup “the most significant environmental impact issue” facing Prince William in the nine years he’s been in office.
“This is one of those things that if you don’t stop it now and it happens, if 200 million gallons of coal-ash water are dumped into the Potomac, that’s irreversible,” Principi said.
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and it keeeeeeeeeeeeeeps going....
http://wtvr.com/2016/02/10/james-river- … sh-permit/
RICHMOND, Va. — The James River Association says they will challenge a permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to Dominion Virginia Power last month, which will allow the discharge of 350 million gallons of coal ash pond water into the James River.
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This one is going to get ugly......Coast Guard has acknowledged that it is aware of lost of billions of gallons of coal ash being dumped in the Potomac.
Can I change utilities? Oh...I can't, they are a monopoly.
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Where is Maryland in all this? It's their river after all.
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T. wrote:
Where is Maryland in all this? It's their river after all.
Quantico Creek (coal ash) is a VA creek that flows into the MD 'mac. Roaches Run (oil) is in VA and flows into DC 'mac.
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Looks like MD has weighed in....."The state of Maryland has filed an appeal with the Commonwealth of Virginia calling for an official review of a recent Virginia Department of Environmental Quality decision to approve a coal ash water discharge permit for Dominion Virginia Power. That permit would authorize the release of potentially toxic pollutants into Quantico Creek and the Potomac River."
http://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2016/02/16 … sh-permit/
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Sad to think MD is going to do what VA won't do for itself....
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And a protest....
http://www.richmond.com/business/articl … 16a3e.html
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Serious stuff! Very sad.
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drxfish wrote:
Serious stuff! Very sad.
Riverkeepers are putting a lot of pressure on Dominion. They (Dominion) are not being good stewards.....feels like we are back in the 60s. I'm not a tree hugger but I can't stand when folks destroy our resources.....especially where we fish. Yes, I'm selfish. I want good water.
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Some good news.....
Dominion reaches agreement in battle over coal ash wastewater
WASHINGTON – Dominion Virginia Power has reached a settlement agreement with Prince William County in a fight over treated coal ash water that the utility wants to release into Quantico Creek.
The county has been fighting to block a permit that Dominion acquired from state regulators to release some 200 million gallons of the water, but the agreement resolves the county’s concerns.
“Dominion has capitulated on everything we’ve asked for,” said Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
Under the agreement, the utility will test the water more rigorously before and during the release into Quantico Creek, which flows into the Potomac River.
“They’re going to go beyond that and make sure that the pollutants are actually reduced significantly below federal and state standards,” Stewart said.
In a statement, the utility said the agreement will help to further protect aquatic life, human health and recreational activities.
“Dominion will always be committed to keeping Quantico Creek and the Potomac safe for fishing, boating, swimming and all the activities we Virginians love to do,” said Pam Faggert, chief environmental officer for Dominion. “We look forward to moving ahead with this important environmental project.”
Dominion is working to permanently shut down ash ponds at its Possum Point power plant in Northern Virginia.
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