Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003152546
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LINDA DENNARD CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Long
The study, however, did not identify areas where contamination has actually occurred, although several Giles County communities have been cited by the Virginia Department of Health for failing to meet federal water-quality standards.
The contamination study added new urgency to the county's concern about unchecked development by predicting the possibility of future water-quality problems because communities have cropped up in areas where runoff and the pollutants are quickly absorbed into ground water.
Wilbern Valley, outside of Pearisburg, for example, derived its water from a spring that, according to Environmental Protection Agency reports, frequently absorbed runoff. Wilbern Valley residents were forced to disconnect from the spring earlier this year or face stiff penalities from the EPA.
The six-month study of ground water contamination potential in the county was recently completed by the Virginia Water Project. The map produced by the study indicates areas of high potential for water contamination that will assist in future residential and commercial development planning.
Jason Gray, the ground water program manager for the Roanoke-based Virginia Water Project, says the study did not identify actual sources of contamination and does not find that areas identified as having high pollution potential are, in fact, contaminated. Areas found to be most sensitive to water pollution will be mapped in the second phase of the project for actual sources of pollution. The second phase is expected to be completed by the end of 1990.
Potential areas of high con-tamination are near Eggleston, White Gate, Poplar Hill, New port, Maybrook, Sinking Creek, Goodwins Ferry, Ripplemead, Bluff City, Pearisburg and Narrows. The highest contamination potential was mapped in areas near White Gate and Poplar Hill, Staffordsville and Maybrook near Sinking Creek.
Many of the areas such as Pearisburg and Narrows are served by municipal water systems that filter out any potential contaminants. Others, however, like Wolf Creek, Ingram Village, Hoges Chapel and Wilbern Valley have already been told by the state Health Department that bacteria counts are too high in their water suuplies. Although the water study is not site-specific in its findings, these areas tagged by the Health Department all fall into areas identified by the study as having high pollution potential.
One of the communities is receiving assistance in coping with its problems. Pearisburg and Giles County are working on a joint project to solve the water problems in Ingram Village on Virginia 100 near Pearisburg. The town has agreed to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for a sewer system and the county will apply for a similar grant for the water system, which will then be operated by the town.
Beyond coping with demands from the Health Department and the Environemntal Protection Agency in these areas, the county is not taking further action on the results of the study at the moment. It is expected that the results will be incorporated into a comprehensive plan and zoning proposals now being developed by the county and the New River Planning District.
A high potential for contamination in an area does not necessarily mean that the water is contaminated or is likely to be contaminated, according to Ken Weaver, the Giles County adminsitrator, who has been coordinating the study.
"Unless there's a clear source of pollution near an area that has high contamination ptential there's an excellent chance that everything is OK,"according to Weaver. The problems come when an area is vulnerable and a clear source of pollution like a chemical spill or a landfill exists, he says.
Weaver said the county isn't recommending that people in areas where contamination could occur take any action yet. He says it may be best to wait until the second phase of the study is completed and Gray and the Water Project make their recommendations.
The Health Department, however, has told the residents of Ingram Village, Wolf Creek, Wilbern Valley and Hoges Chapel that they must boil their water because of high bacteria count.
What is causing the high bacteria count in these areas is not clear except that they fall into regions where there is a great deal of runoff from higher regions. The second phase of the study will take a closer look at "substandard" water sources like springs and wells, according to Gray.
The county has moved toward zoning this year as a way to curb private dumping of garbage and waste throughout the county, after Supervisor Bobby Compton Jr. and others expressed concern that the county had no control over land use in Giles.
Private dumps and inadequate sewage systems may be one source of potential pollution. A comprehensive plan and the beginnings of zoning are expected to be before the Board of Supervisors sometime in the fall.
The water study is funded by the Virginia environmental endowment, which has funded 11 such studies in other localities. Giles is the third county mapping project.
Contamination potential, according the the study released this week, varies from low to high sensitivity in Giles. The areas that show the lowest potential are the steep mountainous regions that have limestone, sandstone and shale. These areas are largely unpopulated.
Even with a high average rainfall the water tables in these areas are deep and water not absorbed runs off to streams at lower elevations, according to the report.
Memo: correction