Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 22, 1993 TAG: 9303220029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WHOSE STANDARDS APPLY?
Roanoke city officials will propose their own standards for the cleanup of hazardous and toxic waste along the Roanoke River.It sounds easy, but the hard question is: Will federal and state regulatory agencies approve them?
Frustrated by their inability to get the agencies to establish standards for the Roanoke River flood-reduction project, city officials have decided to take the initiative and develop their own.
And Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, has offered to help them in whatever way he can.
The city does not know the standards that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Waste Management will use for the project to determine what, if any, contaminated soil has to be cleaned up.
For several weeks, the city tried to arrange a meeting with representatives of the federal and state agencies to discuss the standards.
State officials met with city officials recently, but federal officials declined, saying the issue was too complex and fragmented to be resolved by one or two individuals.
"Since we could not get anything from them, we decided to use a different approach," said Kit Kiser, director of utilities and operations for the city.
"We'll have to see then whether they will accept them and what risks we will have to take," Kiser said.
The flap over the standards has halted environmental tests of land along the river that will be needed for the project.
"Will we have to use drinking-water standards and have to remove everything?" Kiser said. "Until we know what the standards are, we don't know if we have a problem."
Consultants have identified about 40 sites along the river where there is potentially contaminated soil.
The sites include property owned by Norfolk Southern Corp., Appalachian Power Co. and 20 other businesses, some located in the Roanoke Industrial Center, formerly the site of the American Viscose plant.
The consultants said the industrial nature of the corridor along the river is the main reason for the apparent contamination.
The sites also include nearly a dozen residences along the river in the Piedmont Avenue area where a landfill is thought to have been once located.
Consultants' preliminary tests have shown that the soil might be contaminated at some sites with chromium, lead, silver, zinc or other metals you would likely find in an industrial corridor.
At low levels, these materials are not dangerous, Kiser said, but they can cause health problems at high levels.
City officials said the waste materials do not pose any danger to people who live near the river or use property along the stream.
If there are hazardous materials or underground fuel leaks near the river, they could be uncovered and cause problems when the stream's channel is being widened.
Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. said the issue has halted work on the project.
"Until we know more from the EPA, we don't know what we will have to do," Fitzpatrick said.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which is cooperating with the city on the $38 million project, did an earlier environmental study several years ago and found no major pollution problems.
But the city, which must acquire the property for the project, wanted to protect itself from potential liability if part of the land is contaminated, Kiser said.
Depending on the pollution levels that are set by federal and state governments, the city and corps can decide whether some areas will be cleaned up or the project will have to be redesigned to avoid toxic or hazardous waste in the soil.
It is likely that the project will be redesigned, but no decision will be made until standards are established and the environmental tests are finished.
Dewberry and Davis, a consultant firm with offices in Roanoke, made the preliminary tests, physically inspecting all property along the river and recording conditions that suggested contamination.
The consultants had been working on a second round of tests to determine the conditions and whether the sites are polluted.
But city officials have halted further tests until the environmental and pollution regulations are established for such projects.
The second round of tests will cost $1 million. The tests include collecting soil samples and doing laboratory analysis of the soil and water. The consultants have also recommended that soil borings be made at some sites. The tests will cost $30,000 to $40,000 at some locations.