APAK Paving SUP

Last night I attended the hearing at the Prince William County Planning Commission at the county complex. I attended because a neighbor had applied for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to allow them to operate a rural home business for a paving company with vehicle storage, in the A-1, Agricultural, zoning district. This business use is incompatible with the protection of our groundwater and surface water. Many of our neighbors voiced their concerns that the use was incompatible with the rural area. Ultimately at 11 pm the Planning C omission voted to deny the request. 

My objection to this SUP was the risk to groundwater. Every day after use the spreader and other equipment must be cleaned to remain usable. Asphalt cleaning solvents are used to clean tools and equipment. According to the VDOT  Waste Management and Pollution Prevention Guide
there is no single standard used, but they note that these solvents may be classified as hazardous waste especially when used.

Diesel fuel and kerosene may be used as a cleaning solvent, though there are commercial blends of cleaners. According to VDOT “disposal of solvents, even so-called “biodegradable” solvents, onto the ground is a violation of the Solid Waste Management Regulations and potentially the Hazardous Waste Management Regulations.” VDOT also warns “Do NOT mix spent cleaning solvent into the asphalt mix or reintroduce it back into the asphalt distributor / kettle as it will negatively affect the quality of the asphalt / emulsion. “

Every night after use the equipment must be cleaned. At Apak Paving there is no place but their property. According to VDOT if the asphalt equipment is cleaned on the lot it should be cleaned over a bed of absorbent material with plastic laid under the absorbent material, and the operator should “remove the solvent/asphalt/absorbent mixture immediately after each use and properly dispose of the material.”

According to the VDOT Equipment should only be cleaned  in a location where:

• There will be no major effects of runoff,
• Solvent will not leave the property, and
• Solvent will not enter a storm drain, ditch/drainage way, or salt pond or be absorbed into the gound.

There is nowhere but the open dirt and some asphalt paved areas that would be ruined to clean the equipment. The subject property is sloped to the south and west, there are no storm drains only some paved areas and dirt. This house and all the neighbors depend on the groundwater for potable water supply. 

The quantity and quality of ground water in Prince William County varies across the county depending on the geologic and hydrogeologic group you are in. According to the U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report by D.L. Nelms and A.R. Brockman hydrogeologic group B underlies this area of the western part of Prince William County and consists of sedimentary rocks of the Culpeper Basin.

Rocks within hydrogeologic group B tend to have moderate to excellent water-bearing potential because it is a fractured rock system with very little overburden. The highest reported yields in the county are from wells located in this area where my home is just down the road from this property. The downside is that this hydrogeologic group is very susceptible to contamination-the fractures that carry water can easily spread a contaminant and without adequate overburden spills could flow to depth through the natural fracture in the rocks.

The asphalt cleaning activities are a threat to the drinking water supply not only for Apax Paving, but for all their neighbors because of the nature of the geology. Apax has demonstrated that they are neither cautious nor compliant. These Asphalt equipment cleaning activities are permitted activities so I called the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and spoke to Richard Doucette, the Hazardous & Solid Waste, Program Manager for Northern Virginia. After researching the applicant, Mr. Doucette informs me that Apak Paving does not have any permits as generator or transport manifests on record. Mr. Doucette informs me that he searched all hazmat filings for Prince William County, and suggested that if the SUP is approved I file a pollution response complaint.

Without a clean water supply our homes have no value and our very health is at risk. Neither I nor my neighbors want to trust our drinking water to Apax Paving. The property owners have a history of violations of the usage of the property. There can be no assurance that the owners will follow proposed conditions or comply with regulations they are currently in violation of. The site also threatens the surface waters of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Granting this SUP is opening the door to incompatible uses that destroy the value of the real, permitted uses in the area, creates a downward spiral that attracts more incompatible uses. Businesses shopping to avoid costs of actually finding a right place to operate their businesses or comply with regulations are incented to follow the successful example of the “one little exception” that drags down the area at great cost to the legitimate homes, farms and agribusinesses.

An incompatible business in a residential area doesn’t create growth as cited by the staff report, it reverses it. The area gets a reputation as declining or going downhill. All the good intentions of “one little exception” are lost when homes and successful agricultural/agri-businesses (wineries, horse farms..) that are in the area or might chose the area realize that it no longer has the same character and they go elsewhere. No one wants a million dollar home adjacent to this kind of industrial activity.