Chesapeake fly-ash site safe for some housing, city leaders toldOct 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jeff Sheler The Virginian-PilotAn 8-acre parcel in South Norfolk where toxic fly ash was buried in the early 1990s can be made safe for low-income housing if some of the material is relocated, city leaders were told today. An environmental engineering consultant hired by the city to assess health risks at the Campostella Square site said the buried substance poses no immediate threat to the public. But the cost of fixing other portions of the property, owned by the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority, would run into the millions of dollars, the consultant said. In a report to the City Council, CDM Smith, a Massachusetts-based firm, said those portions could be used for commercial and other non-residential use after less-expensive remediation. The firm surveyed the site and conducted soil and water samples on three parcels along Campostella Road, Parkside Drive and Wingfield Avenue. It found fly ash, a powdery residue left over from burning coal for electricity, covered by less than a foot of soil in most places, enough to prevent exposure to passersby. The amount of ash varied in thickness, according to the report. "Fly ash is not exposed at land surface," at the sites, the report said. Return later to Pilotonline.com for more on this story. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=30247010& |