THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270368
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
The Environmental Protection Agency gave Cape Charles and Northampton County $200,000 Wednesday to look for toxins on land slated to become the Port of Cape Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial Park.
The park is one of four places nationwide chosen by President Clinton to demonstrate that ecologically sensitive businesses can make money.
The 55 acres on Cape Charles harbor could be contaminated. In addition to a dockside and rail yard, it is the location of an old town dump and abandoned industrial operations.
``Given the historic lack of knowledge and controls regarding town dumps,'' the grant proposal said, the site ``is likely to contain materials which are threats to public health, potentially damaging to the ground and surface waters and a risk to the marine environment.''
The grant will fund an assessment of the property, and the development of a clean-up plan.
Phase One, expected to cost $10,000, will include:
Review of local, state and federal records on property ownership and use, as well as history of spills or noncompliance of material handling.
Interviews with former and current property owners and neighbors.
Review of data regarding historical operations and manufacturing processes, including adjacent property owners like the Eastern Shore Railroad.
Analyzing aerial photos of the site.
Identifying environmentally sensitive areas on or near the site.
Results will indicate the need for, and scope of, the second phase. About $90,000 is budgeted for phase two, which could include soil sampling, installation and monitoring of wells to test the groundwater and surface water sampling.
If contamination is present, the project's final report will detail a plan for clean-up. This plan is budgeted at $100,000.
Cape Charles and Northampton County won the grant on the basis of their grant proposal, but the formal grant application with details of the project has yet to be filed.
``This is very preliminary,'' said Tom Stolle with the EPA. ``All those details have yet to be worked out.''
KEYWORDS: EPA EASTERN SHORE HAZARDOUS WASTE CONTAMINATED SOIL
GRANT by CNB