Meeting with Howard

After my last post, I wrote letters to the Giles County Board of Supervisors regarding my opposition to the Cumberland Park Project. I enclosed a copy of a letter from Charles Maus, retired Regional Director of the Virginia Water Control Board and former head of the regional landfill. Charlie is an expert on waste management and water issues so I was hoping the board would make note of his concerns about the project.

Only Howard Spencer replied by calling me at home on October 27. Howard is Chair of the board, President of GCPE, owner of the project, and Glen Lyn Town Manager. We had a long conversation with Howard doing most of the talking. I told him he had not changed my mind but that I wanted to learn more. So, he invited me and Charlie to come by the Glen Lyn Municipal Building to look at the drawings and documentation. I accepted his offer.

Charlie Maus traveled all the way from Shawsville to meet with Howard and me on Monday, October 29. Howard was late so he sent his project manager and engineer, Randall Bowling. After hearing all the details and asking some pertinent questions regarding controlling water, both Charlie and I still had concerns about the project.

Gravel and dirt would be filled in around the the RC5 concrete drainage pipes which are located through out the fill and drain runoff water to the river's edge of the site. Charlie thought there was not enough dirt or gravel specified as fill and thought there could be problems with the initial installation as well as ongoing maintenance over the years.

Another concern relates to the longterm. What will be built on the site and how will it be maintained? The long but not too deep site looks like it will be a strip mall with multiple businesses. That means lots of plumbing with potential for leaks to go into the fly ash.

Unlike what Howard told me, fly ash does not become concrete when water gets to it. As Charlie noted, it takes on slurry-like characteristics which could be a disaster for the river but also water supplies.

Howard pointed to the AEP building out back behind the office. The large metal building is built on a large (200,000 cubic yards) fly ash fill (see photo below), also referred to as the Fairchild site.



Charlie pointed out the differences between this site and that of the Cumberland Park site. There is not as much runoff as the other site (i.e from Highway 460 and the mountain on the other side). The large, metal building has few utilities (sewage pipes, water pipes) to fail. Even if the fly ash turned into a coal slurry flood one day, AEP wouldn't be out much if it lost this cheap metal building. Only the numerous homes and businesses downstream would be affected.

If Howard believed that the Cumberland Park Project would be a success based on the Fairchild site, then he was being led astray by the engineering firm. I did believe that Howard had some concerns after Charlie's comments. He commented on how much the GCPE would be out (evidently lots of money), if they did not follow thru with the project.

I wrote another letter after the visit relaying my concerns with copies to the Board of Supervisors. None replied so far.