State Department of Health to hold a fact finding hearing on Raspberry Falls

Published on Loudoun Times Mirror web-site

written by Crystal Owens

MAY 16, 2011

Virginia Department of Health officials will hold a fact-finding session with Raspberry Falls residents to determine if a formal hearing is warranted on whether the state is doing enough to ensure safe drinking water for the community.

The fact-finding hearing, set for May 26, will be conducted by state Department of Health District Director Dr. R. Dana Bradshaw.

Bradshaw will then make a recommendation to the state Health Commissioner based on his findings.

Residents of the community north of Leesburg requested the hearing after officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently said they would not continue to pursue access to parts of the property to conduct a dye trace study.

A dye trace study would conclude if there are sources of contamination to the ground water that serves several communal wells within the community that rests on karst geology.
In karst geology, surface water can easily drain downward through joints in the rock, making direct contact with the groundwater.

In October 2009, Loudoun County Supervisor Sally Kurtz (D-Catoctin) requested the dye trace study for Raspberry Falls after she was bombarded with concerns from residents who said they were worried about the quality of their drinking water.

The community is surrounded by dairy and bison farms as well as a golf course. Residents said they worried that fertilizers and bacteria from the properties were leaking into the community’s groundwater supply and complained of health problems and corroding copper pipes, among other issues.

The state Department of Health already has determined one well on the property to be groundwater under the direct influence of surface water – or GUDI.

Loudoun Water, the entity that operates the communal system, shut the GUDI well down in November.

In letters to Loudoun County government leaders, EPA officials said they’ve been denied access to parts of Raspberry Falls to conduct the dye trace study that are owned by Van Metre, the company that built many of the homes in the community.

Other parts of the property are controlled by Loudoun Water, who are cooperating with the EPA, spokesman Mike McGill said.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA has the authority to conduct various types of investigations to protect human health and the environment.

Raspberry Falls Residents request State Department of Health hearing

Posted on the Loudoun Times Mirror web-site:

written by Crystal Owens

May 11, 2011

A group of residents from the Raspberry Falls community are requesting a hearing before the state Department of Health Commissioner to determine whether enough is being done to ensure the community has safe drinking water.

The request comes on the heels of several pleas by the group during the last two years for a dye trace study to be performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A dye trace study would conclude if there are sources of contamination to the ground water that serves several communal wells within the community which rests on karst geology.

In karst geology, surface water can easily drain downward through joints in the rock, making direct contact with the groundwater.

To determine if surface water is draining into the geology below Raspberry Falls, an EPA representative would perform the dye trace study by injecting dye into certain points of the area and then monitoring locations to see where the dye reappears.

In October 2009, Loudoun County Supervisor Sally Kurtz (D-Catoctin) requested a dye trace study for the community, which is just north of Leesburg off Route 15, after she was bombarded with concerns from residents who said they were worried about their health.

The community is surrounded by dairy and bison farms as well as a golf course. Residents said they worried that fertilizers and bacteria from the properties were leaking into the community’s groundwater supply and complained of health problems and corroding copper pipes, among other issues.

In November, one of two wells serving the community was determined by the state Department of Health to be under the direct influence of groundwater, or GUDI.

The well has since been permanently shut down and Loudoun Water’s Board of Directors agreed to study an option to extend central water service to the community from the Town of Leesburg.

Loudoun Water, which serves the community, also agreed to study options for enhanced treatment of the well water and connections with the wells in nearby Selma Estates. That study has not yet been completed.

Officials with Loudoun Water said they’re cooperating with the EPA in granting officials access to the Raspberry Falls property to conduct a dye trace study.

“We will continue to allow the EPA access to our facilities in the future,” said Mike McGill, spokesman for Loudoun Water.

However, other parts of the area are owned by Van Metre, the company that built many of the homes in the community.

According to a Feb. 24 letter obtained by the Times-Mirror addressed to Van Metre officials from EPA attorney Philip Yeany, Van Metre for at least a year has blocked EPA’s access to the property.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA has the authority to conduct various types of investigations to protect human health and the environment, Yeany said in the letter.

However, a month later, in a March 31 letter to Loudoun County officials, Dr. Malcolm Field with the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, said the EPA was backing away from pursuing access to the property.

“Future developments may allow the planned tracer tests to occur, but for the foreseeable future I can no longer devote my energies on Raspberry Falls,” Field wrote in the letter.

Raspberry Falls residents now are trying to determine why the EPA has stepped back from pursuing a dye trace study.

Should residents be granted a public hearing before the state Department of Health, some of those questions could be answered.

“Wouldn’t it be smart to find a way to allow a dye trace study to provide vital information needed to define the most optimal solution for treating this type of non-rural water before making a carte blanche decision without all the facts?” said Raspberry Falls resident Lisa Koste.

Video of Raspberry Falls - Limestone Branch by golf club house

Video of flooding at Entrance of Raspberry Falls

Video of Flooding in Raspberry Falls

This video was taken from Hunter Pl