[Archived] City Intends to File Application for Participation in Virginia's Voluntary Remediation Program

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

The City will apply next month to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) to participate in the state’s Voluntary Remediation Program. This program provides assistance to parties who are voluntarily working to address environmental contamination problems.

The application is part of the City’s efforts to address the problem of an oily substance found in the Potomac River near the outfall of a storm sewer that runs underneath Oronoco Street. The sewer runs adjacent to the former site of the Alexandria Town Gas Works, located at the southeast corner of Oronoco and Lee streets.

"Through participation in the Voluntary Remediation Program, the City’s objective is to determine the source of the oily substance and how to prevent further discharges into the river, to ensure the protection of the local environment," said Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services Director Rich Baier.

In the mid-1970s, the former Alexandria Town Gas Works site was linked to oily substances found in the Potomac River, near the point of discharge of the Oronoco storm sewer into the river. In the past 25 years, the City has undertaken several measures to collect and contain such substances, including the installation of a protective clay barrier around the gas plant site and the use of an absorbent boom at the storm sewer’s outfall.

The City has hired an experienced environmental science and engineering firm, Marshall Miller & Associates, to assist it in the Voluntary Remediation Program and to provide additional technical assistance. During its initial field work, Marshall Miller will take and analyze soil and groundwater samples on and near the former gas plant site and other locations near the storm sewer.

"The City has no reason to believe that any residences or businesses, including those adjacent to the former gas plant site, have been affected by the substances that may be migrating to the river along the Oronoco storm sewer line, or by materials that may remain underground at the former gas plant site," Baier said.

The former gas plant was owned originally by the City, which operated the plant for nearly 80 years before selling it to Alexandria Gas Company in 1930. Alexandria Gas, and later Rosslyn Gas Company, both subsidiaries of Washington Gas Light Company, owned and operated the plant until 1946, when the plant was dismantled and the property was sold to a private party. Rosslyn Gas was later merged into Washington Gas.

"Washington Gas is assisting the City in the review and remediation of the problems at the Oronoco outfall," Baier added.

The City also will work closely with the VDEQ and the Virginia Department of Health. Both the City and the VDEQ have informed, and will continue to inform, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of developments at the site.

In order to provide additional information to property owners and residents in the vicinity of the site about this matter, the City has scheduled a public information session on Wednesday, March 22, 2000, at 7:30 p.m., in Room 3000 of City Hall. City officials will make a brief presentation about the site and its history, and about the Voluntary Remediation Program.

For more information, contact the City’s public information officer, Angelita Plemmer, at (703) 838-4300.