A Suggestion for Possum Point

Coal was used to power the Possum Point power plant from 1948-2003 when they switched to natural gas. There is a whole lot of coal ash in Prince William County at Possum Point-millions of tons of the stuff. It is all sitting on a peninsula where Quantico Creek meets the Potomac River in eastern Prince William County. 

In 2015 right after the release of the EPA rule for disposal of coal ash, Dominion Virginia Power announced that they intended to close all of the ash ponds at its Virginia power stations including those in Dumfries at Possum Point in general compliance with rules. That did not go smoothly. There was a desire to have a more stringent regulation in Virginia by many of the Public and environmental groups. The cost to address the coal ash problem goes into the rate base for electricity.

Dominion Energy is now proposing to build and permit a double lined landfill at Possum Point to “dispose” of the coal ash. Dominion has proposed to bury the millions of pounds of coal ash in a new onsite landfill. This proposal is both cheaper and faster than the other alternatives- recycling the coal ash into concrete or moving the coal ash to another landfill.  Virginians will ultimately pay for any solution through increased electric rates for the disposal of the coal ash.

 Moving waste from one site to another just creates another location for potential contamination from coal ash. The existing coal ash ponds have been open to the elements and taking on water for decades. Trace contaminants and metals (and potentially hexavalent chromium) in the coal ash have already leached into the groundwater, soils, Quantico Creek and Potomac. Creating a landfill on site would require continual monitoring and maintenance. This is probably best accomplished at an operating and regulated plant rather than at a remote cap and leave it location. Though Dominion is proposing a landfill with two liners, all physical barriers fail over time this is addressed by monitoring and maintaining the systems.

Possum Point is downstream from nearby drinking water supplies and is unlikely to impact local residents beyond what has already taken place over the decades. Supervisor Baily and the Riverkeepers appear to object to building a landfill on the existing industrial site and prefer moving the coal ash elsewhere. They are wrong. The coal ash should not leave Possum Point. I am concerned about the residual metals in the coal ash.

Chromium is a metallic element found in rocks (including coal), soils, plants, and animals and is known to be present at Possum Point. Cr(III) is relatively non-hazardous to humans and is in fact an essential nutrient. Chromium III in coal is not considered a serious health risk. However, during commercial coal combustion when coal is burned to generate steam for turbines that produce electricity, the trace contaminants are left behind. Ash is created from the incombustible inorganic components in coal. That ash can contain not only hexavalent chromium, but also arsenic, selenium, lead, copper, antimony, and thallium. These are the contaminants likely present in the coal ash, soils and groundwater at Possum Point.

EPA does not regulate hexavalent chromium at this time, and Dominion Energy has not tested for hexavalent chromium at Possum Point. The maximum contaminant level (MCL) for hexavalent chromium in California was lowered to 0.01 ppb in drinking water in 2014. Hexavalent chromium in drinking water is not regulated in Virginia, only total chromium, but may someday be if we have our own “Hinkley” (the town in the movie and book Erin Brockovich).

Based on the planned expansion of Possum Point Road in the Draft Comprehensive Plan for Prince William County, I believe that Supervisor Baily and others harbor the thought of developing the “waterfront property” that is the Possum Point power station at some time in the future. That would be most unwise. Aside from the fact that sea level is rising and Possum Point sinking and it would be insanity to build in an area that will be under water increasingly; Dominion can never sell this land. They must always maintain ownership as a reason I cite Love Cannel.

In the 1920s a failed canal project was turned into a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite. In 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company, then the owners and operators of the property, covered the dump with feet of earth and under the threat of the city exercising eminent domain sold it to the school district for one dollar.  Hooker tried initially to restrict use to a park, but ended up with a restriction to use the property as a school. That did not work. The school district sold the land to a developer to build houses.  Check out the story of Love Canal here.

Dominion Energy needs to go into the development business. I suggest data centers and solar panels for the site. Northern Virginia has become the data center capital of the world. Prince William County already home to a significant number of data centers and with the majority of the 2,400 acres in the existing Data Center Overlay district owned by data center development companies or directly by data center operators, the County Board of Supervisors is considering doubling that available land.

Possum Point is land only suitable for industrial use. Period. I believe the best and safest solution for the coal ash is to recycle by encapsulating it in concrete on-site and this was the option favored by the Southern Environmental Law Center, too. For Possum Point the best option is for Dominion Energy to maintain ownership and control of the land in perpetuity. Closing the coal ash on site requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance and “cleaning up” the site requires monitoring as well as ensuring that the use of the land is protective of people.  All physical barriers fail over time and no cleanup can restore land to pristine condition.