Virginia (VA) Personal Injury law firm news

Toxic Heavy Metal in Chesapeake, VA Water?

Water tests conducted at the Battlefield Golf Club in Chesapeake, Virginia (VA) show that there’s more than just water in their wells; high levels of arsenic and lead have now caused the EPA to look at the golf course as a potential superfund site. Lead can have terrible effects on kids’ development.  Even low levels of lead can cause nervous system and kidney damage, decreased intelligence, hearing damage, seizures, decreased muscle and bone growth, and even death.

In a recent article by the Virginian Pilot test results done by the city have revealed that arsenic is present at 8 times more than the standard of drinking and lead 5 times the amount in the wells near the golf course. This is a result of the Battlefield Golf Club being built upon 1.5 million tons of fly ash which are the remains of coal after you burn it for electricity. This residue was donated by Dominion of Virginia in hopes of a more environmentally friendly way of construction. The company then went on to provide city officials with a “clean bill of health” for the fly ash.

This “clean bill of health” has provoked city officials to ask the EPA for an assessment of the possible water contamination damage. In doing so, the golf course may join a list of the nation’s top contaminated properties. If it does join the list, it can be deemed a “superfund site,” in which the city may receive federal money to help clean up the location. There is now an ongoing investigation as to whether or not the water pollution has spread to the nearby properties.

Dirty water just isn’t good. The Dominion of Virginia should have been more responsible in providing an adequate report to city officials, and city officials should have done a much more thorough investigation of the effects of fly ash on such a terrain. Here’s hoping that the residents of the nearby golf course haven’t been affected by the water contamination of the golf course. My advice: stock up on bottled water and wait until the test results come through.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

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How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.

Our VA personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the attorneys with our Virginia Beach accident injury law firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Two of our VA injury lawyers -- Lewis and Shapiro - have been named to Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury since 2010. In addition, Lewis and Shapiro have been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. 

Our VA accident injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth nvited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that rose to $60 million with interest when the defendant abandoned an appeal and agreed to settle. 

Geographical Areas

Our personal injury lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern USA, and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

In Virginia, this includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap, and every community on the Eastern Shore, including Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.

In West Virginia, we can handle personal injury claims in Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling and any other town or county.

Injury Lawyers licensed in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.