THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610020142
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letters
LENGTH: 41 lines
As president of the Chesapeake Arboretum from 1990 to 1992, I would like to clarify some comments about the old arboretum at the closed Chesapeake landfill that appeared in the Sept. 11 Virginian-Pilot.
The arboretum members had a multiphase plan to develop the 12-acre arboretum site into a public garden and educational center to encourage conservation of our natural resources. The arboretum plan was designed to enhance the existing 1985 Parks and Recreation plan for the 114-acre landfill. The arboretum board of directors was well aware of the contents of the landfill and the potential that the EPA may at some time change the requirements for use on closed landfills. We planned for what we thought may be worst case on the 12 acres that we were developing.
The old arboretum began development at the landfill in June 1988. We added up to 50 inches of soil over the six acres we where we planned to plant trees. This was more than enough to ensure that the largest trees' root systems would not penetrate the waterproof clay cap that protects the site.
On Sept. 15, the city manager and myself met to discuss the EPA visit that had taken place earlier that year. We determined that the EPA could possibly put the entire landfill on the Superfund list because buried waste in other parts of the landfill could possibly vibrate to the surface from pedestrian and vehicular traffic if we opened the landfill to the public as planned to access the arboretum. A possible $100 million cost to the city. We agreed that the best action to take would be to close the arboretum and landfill immediately and try to relocate the arboretum. The board of directors met that evening and the keys were turned over to the city the next day. We have since relocated to our new 48-acre arboretum located in the pristine hardwood forest at 624 Oak Grove Road that will be dedicated on Nov. 2.
Phil Johnson
Thrasher Road
Treasurer
Chesapeake Arboretum by CNB