But the matter was out of their hands once it became a state-authorized operation.
After numerous lawsuits and court proceedings filed year after year, the state revoked the landfill’s operating permit following a permanent injunction against the site. The landfill was ordered to be closed in October 1983, much to the delight of Broad Run Farms residents and county officials.
The series has covered the environmental implications stemming from the landfill, as it was created before regulations for refuse sites were developed. As such, there is no liner along the inside of the landfill, allowing decomposing refuse – and the chemicals associated with it – to seep into the ground and contaminate the groundwater supply.
The series has explored the migration of methane gas in the CountrySide subdivision, as well as the groundwater contamination with trichloroethylene (TCE) in Broad Run Farms. It was noted how the contamination has gotten worse overtime, with the plume spreading to many of the private wells in the subdivision at concentrations significantly higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum contaminant level.
It has highlighted the process of getting state and federal officials involved to recognize the contamination and work to protect the residents of Broad Run Farms from this probable human carcinogen. From the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and Department of Health providing bottled water to residents who detected TCE, to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) installing whole-house carbon filtration units in homes with TCE contamination, officials have made sure that public health was not compromised while trying to reach a solution to deal with the TCE contamination and the ensuing cleanup from the landfill.
Working with elected officials at the state and federal levels, the agencies were able to get the EPA involved. After much testing and analysis, the Hidden Lane Landfill was listed on the EPA’s National Priorities List, qualifying the site to be cleaned up under the agency’s Superfund program.
The EPA is currently in the remedial investigation step of the cleanup process and is assessing the extent of the contamination, a step that takes anywhere from 18 months to three years generally.
Residents, in the meantime, have had varied responses to the actions. While some were frustrated it took so long for county and state officials to get involved and acknowledge a problem, they are relieved that their concerns are now being addressed and are appreciative that the contamination is being cleaned up.
One of the greatest problems residents have had with the temporary options provided to the residents were the filtration devices provided by the DEQ, which had a sulfur-like smell resulting from bacteria in the units. However, residents and officials have said that the odor problem has been remedied.
The Hidden Lane Landfill, consisting of about 35 acres of a 147-acre property, has continued to be a thorn in the community’s side since its inception in May 1971.
What was once a refuse site for construction debris like tree stumps and concrete – which was later polluted with the illegal dumping of hazardous materials – has compromised the public’s health with numerous fires, methane gas releases and carcinogenic chemicals in the community’s drinking water.
With almost 7,600 people living within a one-mile radius of the landfill, the EPA must take precise, calculated steps to clean up the old refuse site to prevent further harm to public health or the environment.
Risk to the Potomac?
So close to the floodplain of the Potomac River, people have become concerned about contaminants from the landfill making its way to the waterway, which serves as the source of drinking water for nearby communities.
Broad Run Farms resident David Green, a government consultant with a background in environmental science and engineering, does not think the chemical would have much of an impact at all, if any, if it got into the Potomac.
Even if the groundwater is entering the Potomac, Green said, the dilution rate is so high that the TCE would not be detected. The treatment plant on Route 7, near the Fairfax County Parkway, treats 50 to 60 million gallons of water a day, so the amount of contaminants released on a daily basis is hardly detectable at their plant, Green said.
The EPA says it is in the process of determining the effects on the Potomac River. “I don’t have good answer [if the people drinking the water from the Potomac are at risk,]” said Fred MacMillan, the EPA’s remedial project manager for the Hidden Lane Landfill. “I don’t think so, but I don’t have information about how much [TCE] is getting into the Potomac. The drinking water facilities [that handle Potomac water] monitor the water coming in for various contaminants.” MacMillan did not know if the facilities look for TCE specifically.
“Down the road, we may need to take some action to prevent [TCE] from getting into surface water, but it is too early for us to tell,” MacMillan said.
Ecologically, if TCE reaches the Potomac, it could affect wildlife. There are organisms that live in the sediment of the Potomac that could be affected by the chemical making its way to the river. Organisms that eat those in the sediments – like birds and fish – could also be affected and it could move up the food chain, MacMillan said.
He said that the EPA will hopefully have more information about if TCE is reaching Potomac in about a month.
Potential Outcomes From the Cleanup
While no one can be certain of the path the EPA will choose to clean up the Hidden Lane Landfill because the agency is still conducting its remedial investigation stage, some have predictions.
Green has his guesses about remediation options. He said the three options that the EPA is likely to choose from are to use “pump and treat” technologies, air sparging or monitored natural attenuation.
Using pump and treat technologies, the EPA would put in series of wells, extract well water from aquifer, treat it with the appropriate technologies, and then pump the water back to other side of facility and inject it with clean water to flush it out. The main downside to this option is its high energy needs to draw enough water and flush it out. This system is very expensive, costing an estimated $25 million over 30 years, Green said. Almost all of that price tag comes from energy costs, he said.
Air sparging is the process of injecting air directly into groundwater. As the bubbles rise in the groundwater from the air injection, the contaminants – in this case, the TCE – are removed from the groundwater by physical contact with the air, and are then vaporized and removed from the soil. Green said that this option is also expensive and time intensive, costing an estimated $10 to $15 million over 30 years.
With a monitored natural attenuation process, the EPA would provide the people directly affected by TCE some source of clean water, whether that be from continuing to operate the whole-house filtration devices or deciding to hook them up to a municipal water supply. The agency would then put in a monitoring field and let nature take its place. Green said this could work because the concentrations of TCE are very low, so the agency could see if nature removed contamination on its own over time. He emphasized that this is not a do-nothing remedy. He predicted that this remedy would cost about $3 to $4 million over 30 years.
Green thinks the most likely option for Broad Run Farms at this time is to bring municipal water to the affected homes at a minimum, if not the entire neighborhood, repair the clay cap on top of the landfill, and do a monitored natural attenuation on site. He said a similar method is used on Superfund sites around the country. If the TCE concentrations were higher than the ones found in Broad Run Farms, he would suggest a different solution, he said. The downside to this option, he said, is that natural attenuation does not solve problem. It will reduce TCE overtime, but there should be other procedures in place to make sure that people are not exposed.
MacMillan would not speculate on possible options for treatment because it is still too early in the cleanup process. Once the EPA moves into its feasibility study, the stage after the current remedial investigation, the agency will assess various options and propose the route it will take.
Public Water as an Option
In 1993, when the neighborhood elected to put public sewer in the subdivision, the county also priced what it would cost to add public water. More than 15 years ago, officials predicted it would cost $12 to $14 million to bring public water to the entire subdivision. To reach today’s price, that number should be inflated 25 to 30 percent, Green said. To bring public water to some homes in the subdivision as an alternative to private wells, once the contamination is addressed, would clearly cost less, he said.
In 2005, deputy county administrator John Sandy priced the extension of water lines to part of the subdivision, as well as to the entire subdivision. To bring water lines to the 74 affected homes, it would cost an estimated $1.7 million on the low end and $2.6 million on the high end. To bring water lines to the 439 homes in the entire district, on the low end, it would cost $6.1 million and on the high end, it would cost $9.1 million. These numbers are also somewhat dated, Sandy said.
What Residents Can Expect To Come
As the EPA completes its remedial investigation, it will deliberate the possible solutions to clean up the landfill during its feasibility study stage. Before the agency selects which route to take, it will work with residents in the Community Advisory Group and make sure that everyone is comfortable with that option. The agency will propose its preferred solution during a public meeting for the community, then give time for a public comment period.
The EPA is required to hold a public comment period, where they discuss the proposed method of cleanup, said Larry Johnson, the EPA’s community involvement coordinator for the Hidden Lane Landfill. The EPA takes these comments into consideration when selecting a method for the cleanup process.
Once a decision has been made about the approach for the cleanup, the agency will work to implement the plan and begin construction on the site. This stage will be a very long run, Johnson said.
The public will be kept informed every step of the way, either through public meetings or distributing fact sheets, MacMillan said.
MacMillan emphasized that the cleanup will not happen overnight. Some have speculated that the process may take as long as 10 years before it is completed. Green predicts that it will take between three and a half and five and a half years to have a remedy in place.
“How long it takes for groundwater to come back to a reasonable state is anybody’s guess,” Green said, adding that it may take 10 to 35 years or longer.
MacMillan said that he has learned not to make predictions when it comes to how much time it takes to clean up a site, but said that sites with groundwater contamination tend to take longer and be more involved because of the technologies available to track contamination and its spread.
Once the site cleanup has been completed, the community again gets a voice. Community members can say whether they think the site is clean and if they are satisfied before the agency will pack up and leave the landfill. The EPA tries to take community members' concerns into consideration before leaving a site.
Looking Forward
Now that the public has learned a wealth of information about the Hidden Lane Landfill– its history, the chemicals contained in it and the process it will take to clean it up – community members can be active, educated participants in the coming months and years. They will know what events led to the contamination and what to expect as officials work to eliminate it.
Community members have learned the importance of testing their wells periodically and knowing what is in their water. They know how to get officials on the local, state and federal levels involved when they believe that public health or the environment is being compromised. And with any luck, problems like the contamination from the Hidden Lane Landfill will not reoccur – in Loudoun, in Virginia, or anywhere in the country.
There are two statements attributed to me in this article that are incorrect.
1. I did not state that "... the best option for Broad Run Farms at this time is to bring municipal water to the affected homes..." I said it was "most likely" going to be a component of the selected remedy because it is effective and eliminates the primary pathway of exposure.
2. With respect to theTCE entering the Potomac, I did not say "...the POLLUTION rate is so high that the TCE would not be detected." I said the DILUTION rate was so high the TCE would not be detectable.
In addition, it is "monitored natural attenuation" not "monitor natural attenuation."
David Green
Sterling, VA