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.
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