After reading Dominion Energy’s state-mandated report on coal ash, I’m more committed than ever to the fight for coal ash disposal that protects Virginian’s drinking water and our environment.
The report, prompted by Senator Scott Surovell’s Senate Bill 1398, shows that Dominion’s Possum Point Power Station in Dumfries has around 4 million cubic yards of coal ash stores in 120 acres of coal ash ponds.
There are 25 million cubic yards of coal ash in Virginia that need to be moved – according to Surovell, enough to fill up the Pentagon six times over. There are also several Prince William County residents that have reported polluted groundwater wells and associated health challenges.
The report also indicates that heavy metals are leaking from the retention ponds in each of Dominion’s four studied locations.
We need to recycle coal ash, rather than “cap-in-place” storage, which has proven to be unsafe for our communities.
It’s absurd that we import coal ash from overseas to recycle into construction projects, while Dominion insists that there’s no demand for recycling of its own coal ash.
I intend to partner with any members of the General Assembly willing to take on this issue and fight to protect our communities. We will be looking at the best way forward legislatively on this issue, in advance of the 2018 session.
Delegate-Elect Lee Carter serves in Virginia’s 50th House district, which includes the City of Manassas and parts of western Prince William County.