A DYNASTY YOU CAN TRUST: Potomac’s boys lead the Cardinal District. Sports, Page 10
January 30, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 5 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
I-95 bottleneck breakthrough Northam, Transurban announce $1 billion deal to widen lanes near Occoquan bridge By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
A fix for the infamous bottleneck at on Interstate 95 just south of the Occoquan bridge – as well as a new interchange at Opitz Boulevard – are among four projects included in a new $1 billion transportation agreement Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. Northam (D) held a press confer-
ence in Richmond on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to detail the new deal with Transurban, the Australian company that owns the tolled I-95 and I-495 HOV Express Lanes in Virginia. The primary purpose of the new projects is to extend Transurban’s I-95 toll lanes for an additional 12 miles. That includes 10 miles south to Fredericksburg, to exit 133, under a new project dubbed “FredEx” and two and a half miles north,
along I-495, to the American Legion Bridge. In addition to those two projects, the deal includes the construction of a new southbound “Occoquan auxiliary lane” on I-95 in Woodbridge from Va. 123 to Prince William Parkway as well as a new reversible ramp connecting the existing I-95 Express Lanes at Opitz Boulevard. The ramp will offer Express
Lanes drivers the option to exit directly onto Opitz Boulevard, according to a press release from Northam’s office issued after the press conference. Construction on the projects could begin as soon as 2020 and finish by 2022, according to state Sens. Jeremy McPike, D-29th, and Scott Surovell, D-36th, two Prince William County area state lawmakers. See I-95, page 4
2,000 teachers rally in state capital for raises, better school funding By Karen Chaffraix Times Staff Writer
More than 2,000 teachers and supporters of the Virginia Education Association descended upon Richmond Monday, visiting state lawmakers and then rallying on the Capitol steps. The group included about 20 teachers from Prince William schools and about 200 from neighboring Fauquier County. Fauquier County schools Superintendent David Jeck was one of eight speakers during the rally and the only superintendent to deliver a message to the sea of red-clad educators whose frustration over years of stalled salary increases and a general lack of funding for the state’s public schools were heard loud and clear. “It is unfathomable that Virginia teachers are making more than $9,000 less than the national average yet, judged by a number of indicators, are delivering a first-class education,” Jeck said. Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston, a former Prince William County middle school teacher, led the rally. “I am mad as hell,” Livingston began, standing midway up the grand, white-marble steps of the state Capitol.
‘Fund our future’ TIMES STAFF PHOTO/KAREN CHAFFRAIX
A Virginia Education Association - sponsored rally in Richmond Monday brought more than 2,000 teachers together on the steps of the Capitol to advocate for raises and better school funding. About 15 teachers represented Prince William, about 200 attended from Fauquier County. “We have crumbling infrastructure in our schools; teachers and staff paid far below the national average; technology that either doesn’t work or doesn’t exist…We now demand that the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia fund our schools,” Livingston said. The crowd broke again and again INSIDE Calendar.............................................15 Classified............................................20 Lifestyle..............................................13 Obituaries...........................................19
into chants: “Fund our future! Fund our future!” “This is not the end. This is only the beginning,” he added. “It is time for the legislators to get on board or get out of the way.” In the crowd, National Education Association director for Virginia Carol Bauer explained that until reOpinion.................................................9 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................18 Sports.................................................11
cently, VEA members were reticent to associate the word “union” with their group because Virginia is a right-to-work state where public employees do not have collective-bargaining rights and face termination if they strike. See SCHOOL FUNDING, page 4
86 WARRENTON, VA
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Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | January 30, 2019
Six vehicles damaged in fire at Potomac Mills parking lot Six vehicles were damaged in an accidental fire in a Potomac Mills parking lot Friday night, according to Prince William County Fire and Rescue officials. There were no injuries from the fire, which involved six cars parked in the lot adjacent to the JC Penney store at the mall. The cause has been ruled "accidental," Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smolsky said Saturday.
Prince William County Fire and Rescue units were dispatched to the blaze at 9:48 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. It's not known what started the fire. All of the vehicles were parked and unoccupied when the blaze sparked, Smolsky said in a text message. The total damage to the cars is estimated at $75,000, Smolsky said.
Manassas man facing 10 counts of child pornography A 39-year-old Manassas man was arrested Friday, Jan. 25, on 10 counts of child pornography after police discovered multiple images on an electronic device inside his home. A Prince William County police detective assigned to the Northern Virginia/DC Internet Crimes against Children Task Force concluded an investigation concerning an individual downloading suspected child pornography by executing a search warrant at the man’s home on Friday, Jan. 25. The home is located on the 10200 block of Barrington Park Circle in the City of Manassas, according to a Prince William police press release. During the search, multiple images of suspected child pornography
were located on an electronic device. Melvin Gene Williams III, 39, was arrested, in connection with the incident. He was charged with one count of possession of child Melvin Williams III pornography and nine counts of possession of child pornography, second or subsequent offense, according to the press release. Williams was being held at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center on a $10,000 bond Monday, Jan. 28.
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Six cars were damaged Friday, Jan. 25, in a fire in the Potomac Mills parking lot. COURTESY PHOTO
Police investigate shooting in Woodbridge A man suffered non-life-threatening injuries when he was shot in the face in Woodbridge, Prince William County police said. Officers responded to the area of Jefferson Davis Highway and Maryland Avenue in Woodbridge at 7:13 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22 to investigate a shooting, Prince William County police said in a news release. Police said a 22-year-old man had arranged to meet two unknown men in the Maryland Avenue area and, during the encounter, one of the men
brandished a handgun and shot the victim in the face, police said in the news release. The victim ran to a nearby business and called police. He was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the police news release said. Police searched the area with a K-9 unit but did not locate the suspects. “At this point, this incident does not appear to be random,” police said in the news release.
Neighborhood Watch meeting set for Feb. 4 The Crime Prevention Unit of the Prince William County Police Department will host a Neighborhood Watch meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 4, at the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo County Government building, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge. The event will be held in the locust shade conference room an should last about an hour. The meeting will focus on ways communities can work with the police department to keep their neighborhood safe or to make it safer, according to a press release. Members of current Neighborhood Watch programs are welcome to attend. Topics covered will include active-violence preparedness; crime-reporting; emergency preparedness; and watch-patrol procedures. There will
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also be a question and answer session. The event is free, but an RSVP to Officer Marcia Whaley at mwhaley@pwcgov.org is requested to ensure enough materials are on hand. For more information, call the Crime Prevention Unit directly at 703-792-7270.
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Northam, lawmakers reach bipartisan deal on coal ash No ‘cap-in-place,’ toxic ash must be recycled or buried in lined landfills Jill Palermo
Time Staff Writer
Dominion Energy will have to dig up or recycle 27 million cubic yards of toxic coal ash lying in unlined pits across the state – including about 4 million cubic yards at Possum Point -- under an agreement Gov. Ralph Northam and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers announced last week. The agreement calls for the utility to abandon its plan to bury the ash onsite at four power plants in Virginia to instead recycle at least 25 percent of it and remove the remainder to landfills that meet current federal safety requirements. The deal means the 4 million cubic yards of coal ash at Possum Point power plant outside Dumfries would have to be moved offsite to a modern landfill or buried there on Dominion property in a modern, synthetically-line landfill that meets current federal requirements. If built at Possum Point, the landfill would have to be approved and permitted by Prince William County officials. The same would be true of the other three Virginia localities with coal ash ponds: the City of Chesapeake and Chesterfield and Fluvanna counties. State Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th, who has led the state effort to oppose Dominion’s previous coal-ash disposal plan, sometimes called “cap-in-place,” called the agreement a "compromise." Surovell’s district includes the power plant at Possum Point. Surovell said he would have liked to see the utility recycle more of the coal ash but said the legislation will meet his main objective as well as that of many constituents and environmental groups: that the ash be moved away from state waterways. "It's not the bill I would have written, but it accomplishes the primary Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th, whose district includes the Possum Point coal ash ponds, speaks at a press conference in Richmond Thursday, Jan. 24, attended by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and a group of bipartisan lawmakers to announce a breakthrough agreement on the future of Virginia’s coal ash COURTESY PHOTO
Photo by Roger Snyder
Dominion Energy’s coal ash pond at Possum Point, dubbed “pond D,” as photographed in December 2018. objectives we all want," Surovell said in an interview before the press conference. "I'd prefer to see more of the ash recycled so nobody would have to deal with this again." Placing the ash in synthetically-lined landfills is considered more protective of the environment, ground and surface water than the plan Dominion had been advocating for the ash. At Possum Point, for example, Dominion had planned to leave the coal ash in one of its five coal ash pits outside the power plant -- pond D -- which has a 1-foot clay liner. The pit lacks a synthetic liner. “These ponds that are there right now are leaking. There’s no dispute about that,” Surovell said during Jan. 24 press conference in Richmond. “They’re not necessarily in violation, but they are leaking toxic metals into groundwater. And getting that stopped was the number one priority and that’s what this bill does.” Northam (D) touted the deal as a bipartisan effort to safely address the “longstanding problem” of Virginia’s coal ash. “Moving this material away from areas where it could contaminate
groundwater and surface water is the safest way to address the longstanding problem of these coal ash ponds,” Northam said. “As they exist now, we run the risk that they could contaminate the drinking water supply or tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay.” Composed of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cobalt as well as several carcinogens, coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal to make electricity. The substance had been piling up for decades in 11 coal ash pits outside Dominion power plants at Possum Point, Chesapeake, Chesterfield and Fluvanna. All of four of the plants are located adjacent to the state’s largest rivers: the Potomac, James and Elizabeth. At Possum Point, which burned coal from 1948 to 2003, the coal ash had been sitting in five unlined ponds adjacent to the Potomac River and Quantico Creek. As was the industry standard, the coal ash was kept in pits and covered with water to keep it from blowing offsite. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency approved new rules for storing coal ash in response to major spills in Tennessee and North
Carolina. Since 2016, Dominion had been consolidating the five ponds at Possum Point into pond D. Cost to Dominion customer: $5 a month The agreement allows Dominion Energy to spend up to $225 million a year on the cleanup effort, which would result in an extra charge of about $5 a month for the average ratepayer. Under EPA regulations, Dominion Energy has 15 years to close the coal ash ponds. The utility has 11 coal ash ponds in Virginia. Northam estimated the cost of recycling about 25 percent of the coal ash at about $3 billion. The legislation would limit the use of trucks to remove the ash from the power plants and requires the use of local labor, the lawmakers said. State Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, who lives in Woodbridge within walking distance to the coal ash pond at Possum Point, said the agreement is the most the lawmakers can do to ensure the ash is disposed of safely. “We are not going to cap in place. We are going to excavate what we have left in those landfills. We are doing the most that we can legislatively in order to protect our environment because this General Assembly unequivocally is for clean air and clean water,” said Foy, D-2nd. The agreement was welcomed this morning by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, which has fought Dominion's plans to cap the ash in place for more than four years. “The dangers of coal ash, leaking into groundwater, drinking wells, our rivers and streams and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, have long been documented," said Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks. “We are gratified by the leadership of Governor Northam and Senator Scott Surovell and are glad to see this agreement in principle.” Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@ fauquier.com