FLYING HIGH IN NOKESVILLE: Hagan Vandiver and the Patriot boys are 11-1. Sports, page 11
January 9, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 2 | 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.
Corey Stewart won’t seek re-election in 2019 By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Although he waited until this week to make it official, Corey Stewart said he decided not to seek re-election to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors back on Nov. 7, the day after he lost his last election to incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine by 16 points in Virginia and more than 31 points in the county. After more than 16 years in coun-
ty office, Stewart, 50, said Tuesday he’s calling it quits – at least for now. “It’s a long time for elected politics,” Stewart said Jan. 8, a few hours after the Washington Post first reported he would not seek re-election in November. Stewart noted he and his family have endured 12 elections and since he first won the Occoquan District seat on the county board of supervisors in 2003. “It’s time for me to move on to the
next chapter,” which he said will involve staying in office until his term expires in January 2020. Stewart said he also plans to stay in his home in Prince William County, the historic Bel Air plantation in Woodbridge, where his wife, Maria, hopes to pursue a catering business for weddings and other events. Still, Stewart would not commit to staying out of politics forever. “It’s in my blood,” he said. “But it won’t be right away.”
The road to the Manassas National Battlefield Park is closed due to the partial federal government shutdown.
No regrets
Stewart’s 12 years at the helm of county government have been controversial, first because of his support for a local agreement with federal immigration enforcement officials in place at the county jail and later, in 2015, when he threw his full support behind then-candidate Donald Trump, becoming the chairman of his campaign in Virginia. See STEWART, page 4
PHOTO BY DELIA ENGSTROM
Worries mount as government shutdown drags on By Karen Chaffraix, James Ivancic and Jill Palermo Times Staff Writers
The partial government shutdown was set to hit Day 19 Wednesday, making it the second-longest on record. But to the thousands of federal employees in Northern Virginia either furloughed at home or working without pay, Friday will mark the real milestone: the first payday lost to the political impasse.
As David Larrimore put it, that’s when “things are going to get ugly.” Larrimore, a nine-year veteran of the federal workforce, has weathered government shutdowns before. This is actually the third of his career. But if the government doesn’t reopen by Jan. 11, it will mark the first time the IT manager and father of three will be forced to go without a paycheck because of political dysfunction. “That’s when the stress is really INSIDE Calendar.............................................13 Classified............................................18 Lifestyle..............................................13 Obituaries...........................................17
going to kick in,” he said, noting he and his wife will likely have to figure out which bills must be paid and which can wait until the government reopens – whenever that might be. “Saturday is D-day for a lot of us,” he added. “This Saturday, everything changes.”
County officials assessing fallout
As the partial government shutdown dragged into a third week, Prince Opinion.................................................8 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................16 Sports.................................................11
William County officials began assessing possible local effects. County Executive Chris Martino was preparing to give the board of supervisors an update at their meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, said county spokesman Jason Grant. Effects to the county and its federally-subsidized programs have so far been minimal. But that will change if the partial shutdown wears on, he said. See SHUTDOWN, page 4
86 WARRENTON, VA
2
NEWS
Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | January 9, 2019
Harold and Cathy’s vows to reopen after car drives into restaurant wall By Aileen M. Streng Contributing Writer
Harold and Cathy’s Dumfries Café, known to so many as the heart of the community for almost 30 years, temporarily closed Thursday after an elderly woman accidentally crashed her car into its glass and brick exterior. “She put her car in drive instead of reverse,” said Kayla Julian, assistant manager of the café, located on Fraley Boulevard, along U.S. 1. “She hit the sweet spot and it all came down.” The woman, whose name has not been released, comes in to eat at Harold and Cathy's every Thursday. She had just finished lunch before the accident occurred. There were about eight customers at the restaurant at the time. One woman was seated near the window, and some debris fell on her but she was not hurt, Julian said. The window broke and bricks from the wall were scattered inside. The brick wall underneath the window was bowed. Firefighters installed a stabilization beam until repairs can be made. The window facing Fraley Boulevard is now boarded up. “We’re just in there cleaning and trying to get some stuff down since we are not open,” Julian said. “We’re just hoping for the best.” The management started the insurance process Friday, Jan. 4. “From the town’s point of view, we are going to expedite the process in whatever ways we can to make this place hustle and bustle again,” said Jatinder Khokhar, Dumfries building inspector. “The recovery effort was
phenomenal. It couldn’t have been done any more safely or faster.” “From the permitting standpoint, I appreciate that so much,” Julian said. “This is a temporary setback,” said Dumfries Mayor Derrick Wood. “The best is yet to come.” Julian hopes the restaurant would be able to open in about a week. Khokar said it could be sooner. Wood suggested when the café does reopen, a community event should be held. “We’ll come down here and cut a new ribbon,” he said. The café took another blow last year when it learned that preliminary plans for widening U.S. 1 through Dumfries would close the restaurant. Wood said the project is at least four years away from construction. “We are still taking in public comments,” Wood said. “We don’t know for sure if this place has to go. There are still things going on behind the scenes that we are negotiating about that we can talk to the public about.” The café has many regulars. “I basically grew up here,” Julian said of the family business. The owners, Harold and Cathy Comer, are her great grandparents. Other family members work at the restaurant. “Everyone is being really helpful,” Julian said. Customers were stopping by Thursday night offering to help board up the window, she said. “A lot of people were saying, ‘Anything we can do to help, just ask.’ People have been calling to make sure everyone is okay,” she said.
PHOTOS BY DELIA ENGSTROM
Harold and Cathy’s Cafe, in Dumfries, was all boarded up Friday morning after an SUV crashed into its outer wall on Thursday, Jan. 3. The cafe’s Facebook page has also been getting offers of support from the many regulars to the restaurant. And on Friday morning, many of those regulars showed up for breakfast only to discover the café was closed. Among them was Pat Mahle. “I’ve been coming here every morning for six years,” Mahle said. “We were tempted to have them build a bedroom upstairs for us.” She said she would have to go somewhere else for breakfast but would be back as soon as it reopened. “It’s definitely a community here,” Julian said. “This place is iconic,” Khokar said. “It’s like a satellite community center for the town.”
Wood said Friday he doesn't know if the driver was cited for the accident. The police officer who handed the crash wasn’t working Friday. The Jan. 3 incident was not the first for the café. The building and parking lot have endured four accidents since the restaurant opened in 1990. One time, a trailer came unhitched and crashed into the same spot as Thursday’s accident. Another time, a car hit its storage building. On another occasion, a car flew into the parking lot and crashed into a parked truck. “Thousands of cars pass us every day so there are incidents,” Julian said. Reach Aileen Streng at news@ fauquier.com The interior of Harold and Cathy’s, which was closed Friday, Jan. 4, after an SUV accidentally drove into an exterior glass and brick wall the day before.
An SUV crashed into an exterior wall at Harold and Cathy’s Cafe in Dumfries on Thursday, Jan. 3.
ISSN 1050-7655, USPS 188280 Published every Wednesday by Piedmont Media LLC How to reach us ADDRESS: 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 PHONE: 540-347-4222 FAX: 540-349-8676 HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 24-hour answering service Publisher Catherine M. Nelson, 540-300-4780 cnelson@fauquier.com NEWSROOM Managing Editor Jill Palermo, 540-351-0431 jpalermo@fauquier.com Web/Copy Editor Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 aheincer@fauquier.com
Community Editor Anita Sherman, 540-351-1635 asherman@fauquier.com Associate Editor John Toler, 540-351-0487 jtoler@fauquier.com Staff Writers James Ivancic, 540-878-2414 jivancic@fauquier.com Karen Chaffraix, kchaffraix@fauquier.com Sports Editor Peter Brewington, 540-351-1169 pbrewington@fauquier.com Sports Staff Writer Jeff Malmgren, 540-874-2250 jmalmgren@fauquier.com GNISITREVDA Ad Manager Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com tnatlusnoC selaS defiissalC Jeanne Cobert, 540-878-2491 jcobert@fauquier.com Chairman Emeritus George R. Thompson
To place Classified and Employment ads: Call 540351-1664 or fax 540-3498676, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday — Friday or email fauquierclassifieds@fauquier. com SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 540-347-4222 Help with your subscription? Call 540-878-2413 or email CirculationFT@fauquier.com Missed your paper? Call 540-347-4222, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays Subscription: $39.95 per year within the United States. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fauquier Times, 41 Culpeper St., Warrenton, VA 20186. Periodicals postage paid at Warrenton, Va. and at additional mailing offices
Kayla Julian, assistant manager, of Harold and Cathy’s Cafe met with Dumfries Mayor Derrick Wood and Jatinder Khokhar, Dumfries building inspector, at the restaurant Friday, Jan. 4.
NEWS
Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | January 9, 2019
3
Northam backs bill to recycle or haul away Possum Point coal ash By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
If the coal-ash cleanup bill Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday becomes law, the 4 million tons of toxic coal ash sitting outside Dominion Energy’s Possum Point power plant in Dumfries will be recycled or hauled away to a modern landfill. That’s according to Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-2nd, who is a patron of the bill along with state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th. Both represent parts of eastern Prince William County. Surovell has led the fight since 2015 against Dominion Energy’s plan to bury the ash onsite in a controversial strategy known as “cap in place.” The bill, which Northam’s called “the Water Quality and Safety Act” has not yet been released for public review. But in an announcement from the governor’s office Jan. 3, Northam (D) said it would “end Virginia’s moratorium on closing coal ash dumps in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and require that all of the material is removed from unlined pits and either recycled or transferred to a safe, lined landfill.” The coal ash at Possum Point has been sitting in five mostly unlined ponds since the power plant began burning coal in 1948. Dominion began cleaning up the ash in 2015 and has now consolidated it in one pond, “pond D,” which the utility contends has a sufficient liner. The 64-acre pond has a 1-foot, engineered clay liner, which met state and federal requirements when it was built in 1988. The liner does not, however, meet the current federal standards for landfills receiving newly burned coal ash. And that’s why the bill – if successful – would be a game-changer for Possum Point. Foy says the current liner does not meet the requirements of the new bill. “In accordance with the EPA’s 2015 coal-ash disposal rule, I believe pond D at Possum Point is considered an ‘unlined’ pond because it has a clay liner that's decades old,” Foy said in an email Friday. “A lined pond is one that has a composite liner consisting of a geomembrane and a 2-foot layer of compacted soil that prevents coal ash from contaminating groundwater,” she added. “The current clay liner in pond D is not a viable alternative or comparable liner because it does not perform as effectively as a composite liner.” Foy also said she’ll push for the remaining ash to be removed by rail – not truck – which some Possum Point residents want to avoid because of the daily trips that would
Dominion Energy’s coal ash pond at Possum Point, dubbed “pond D,” as photographed in December 2018. PHOTO BY ROGER SNYDER
be required for years along two-lane Possum Point Road. Advocates of “clean closure,” such as environmental groups as well as Foy and Surovell, point to signs the toxic heavy metals found in coal ash – including boron, lead, arsenic, cobalt and hexavalent chromium – are leaking into surrounding groundwater as proof the clay liner is not enough to protect the environment and human health. Patty Marrow, who lives outside Possum Point with her husband, Dan, and two daughters, spent more than $40,000 to connect their home to public water after tests of their well water showed signs of coal ash contaminants, including lead, in 2016. The couple has also had to replace most of the pipes inside their home because their well water was highly acidic. Even more worrisome are her family’s various health challenges, which the Marrows believe are the result of their drinking their well water for years. On Friday, Marrow said Northam’s announcement is good news but comes too late for Possum Point-area residents, most of whom did not know about the coal ash ponds or their related contaminants until Dominion began moving ash in 2015. Marrow said she also remains skeptical about recycling the ash and questions whether turning it into wallboard or cement blocks won’t eventually pose a hazard to someone else. The Marrows are suing Dominion Energy for damages related to the coal ash ponds. “I want it to be in a modern landfill,” Marrow said Friday. “And if they are going to reuse it or recycle it, I don’t want it to be in wallboard
or molding or kitchen cabinets. I don’t see how it can be used [in that way] and not still be toxic.” Will Dominion oppose the bill? Both Dominion Energy and officials with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality acknowledge the ponds at Possum Point are leaking contaminants into groundwater and the Potomac River and have been for decades. But Dominion Energy contends the pollutants are not traveling offsite in large enough quantities to be dangerous. As the state’s primary electrical utility and a major funder of both parties’ political campaigns, Dominion is an influential player in the state General Assembly. On Friday, it’s officials wouldn’t say whether the utility’s lobbyists will work to kill Northam’s legislation. “We share the governor’s commitment to protect the environment. We will review the bills when they are filed and as they go through the committee process,” Dan Genest, a Dominion spokesman, said in an email. “In regard to coal ash, our report to the General Assembly in December laid out several environmentally responsible options that included recycling as part of our management plan. So, we share some common ground.” Genest was referring to the second report state lawmakers required of the utility. A state law passed in 2018 required Dominion to seek bids for recycling the ash from recycling companies to find out how much it would actually cost to repurpose the ash. The report, released in November, pegged the cost of recycling the ash at Possum Point between $298 and
$942 million. Closing the ponds in place would cost between $137 and $418 million, according to a report Dominion did in 2017. The State Corporation Commission has since crunched the numbers for clean-closing all 11 of Dominion’s existing coal ash ponds across the state. The state agency estimated it would cost the average rate-payer about $3.30 a month for the next 20 years to safely clean up the ash. As a state-regulated utility, Dominion is allowed to recover such costs from ratepayers. It’s possible that the state might also kick in money to pay for cleanup, but that would require the General Assembly’s approval. Surovell often notes that other states are requiring their coal ash to be recycled and says Virginia should do the same. “This summer’s review confirmed we can innovatively recycle coal ash while creating Virginia jobs at minimal cost,” Surovell said in the Jan. 3 press release. “Dominion’s original proposal to permanently store coal ash in ponds has been proven unwise—the time has come to resolve the coal ash issue once and for all and to ensure clean rivers and drinking water for everyone.” Dean Naujoks, of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, welcomed news of Northam’s bill Thursday but noted it will take action by the state General Assembly to pass it. “It really comes down to the legislature,” Naujoks said. “Are there enough Republican members of the General Assembly to vote in favor of this bill? We’ll see.” Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@ fauquier.com
WHY ARE OTHERS SO MUCH MORE? •
Less
•
Local
•
H on e s t
•
540-687-3608 huntcountrypropane.com