Prince William Times 07/13/2023

Page 1

FOOTBALL UPDATE: Manassas Park returns to field, Brentsville looks primed. SPORTS, PAGE 12

July 13, 2023 | Vol. 22, No. 28 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Va. has no wildfire pollution monitors in Prince William By Hunter Savery

Local at-home, air-quality monitors

Times Staff Writer

Canadian wildfire smoke clouded the air across Northern Virginia twice last month, causing the region to have some of the worst air-quality readings in the world. But the National Weather Service never issued air-quality alerts for Fauquier or southern Prince William for a unsettling reason: In both counties, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality lacks the equipment necessary to monitor smoke pollution. On June 8 and 29, when local skies were invaded by a smoky haze, residents across the Northeast relied on AirNow.gov for local and regional air-quality data. The website is an effort of the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal entities to collect and disseminate air-quality data across the country. See AIR QUALITY, page 4

Amid the lack of state-funded and managed air-quality monitors, local residents in the following locations have installed their own PurpleAir air-quality monitors.

Fauquier

• Vint Hill (Brookside) • Bealeton (Mintbrook)

Eastern Prince William

• Lake Ridge (Willowood Drive)

Western Prince William

• Bristow (Bristow Village) • Gainesville (Groveton Road) • Manassas (West Gate) • Manassas (First AME Baptist Church) • Manassas (Wheeler Ridge Drive, near Ashton Avenue) PHOTO BY HUGH KELLY

A drone photo of the hazy skies over Warrenton on June 7.

SOURCE: WWW2.PURPLEAIR.COM; WWW.AIRNOW.GOV

‘The Rose’ faces $15K state fine for landfill violation By Hunter Savery Times Staff Writer

Lawson, R-Brentsville, announced her plans to introduce the resolution last month, after board chair Ann Wheeler, who is a proponent of certain controversial data center projects such as the Prince William Digital Gateway and Devlin Technology Park, was voted out of office in the Democratic primary.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has fined Churchill Downs Group, owner of the forthcoming The Rose Gaming Resort in Dumfries, nearly $15,000 for environmental violations related to its construction on the former Potomac Landfill site. Until 2022, the site of the new resort, now being built along Interstate 95 in Dumfries, was known as the Potomac Landfill. Colonial Downs, the original owner of The Rose, closed the landfill as part of the deal to build the future gaming resort there. Though no longer operational, the landfill still has to meet state environmental standards. Inspections in fall 2022 found exposed waste and “leachate seep,” which is water coming up through the waste and leaking out of the landfill. The consent order for the fine was filed on Friday, May 26 and fined Colonial Downs Group LLC $14,798 for violating the Solid Waste Management Act. On Sept. 28, 2022, DEQ Inspectors found contaminated water seeping from the landfill and flowing into a nearby stormwater channel. The inspectors also found exposed waste at various locations on the property due to onsite construction.

See SUPERVISORS, page 2

See FINE, page 2

PHOTO BY ANYA SCZERZENIE

Opponents of data center development protest outside the Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting in Woodbridge Tuesday.

Supervisors defeat ‘lame duck’ data center resolution Effort was aimed at banning controversial rezonings after the election By Anya Sczerzenie Times Staff Writer

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted along party lines Tuesday to defeat Supervisor Jeanine Lawson’s resolution to prohibit controversial data center rezoning cases from being heard between the Nov. 7 election and when the newly elected board takes office in 2024.

Noise, air pollution among concerns about Manassas airport expansion, page 3

Fauquier County Fair starts this weekend, page 9

88 DULLES, VA


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Prince William Times 07/13/2023 by Fauquier Times (52 issues) & Prince William Times (52 issues) - Issuu