December 1, 2010
Congressman Frank Wolfe
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
Dear Congressman Wolfe:
Your constituents in Raspberry Falls (Leesburg, VA) are asking for assistance from an appropriate federal agency to resolve potential health matters which are being overlooked by Virginia State and Loudoun County authorities for political purposes. The source of this problem is our drinking water, provided by Loudoun Water, our local water authority.
As you may be aware, the community has for several years been trying to ascertain if the water from our community system is GUDI (ground water under the direct influence of surface water), and Loudoun Water has always insisted that it is not under such influence. Yet, there have been a number of health problems in the community that are generally related to water contaminates. About 18 months ago, the EPA generously offered its services to conduct a dye trace study, at no charge to the county, community, and Loudoun Water. The community also tried to encourage action by taking the water authority and community developer (Van Metre Corp) to court to provide bottled water on a temporary basis until the water quality issues could be settled, but the courts refused to act upon the request for injunctive relief filed by our attorneys. Later, after the suit for injunctive relief was withdrawn, Loudoun Water agreed to finally permit the EPA to conduct its study, but under extremely strict supervision. This also happened to coincide with the time of year when the dye trace study would be least reliable. Our District supervisor on the County Board of Supervisors, Ms. Sally Kurtz, acknowledged in public forum that the reason for not permitting the dye trace study to be conducted was the legal suit.
More recently, in a letter to Raspberry Falls residents dated November 24, 2010, the General Manager of Loudoun Water informed us that on November 23, 2010, Loudoun Water was officially informed by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) that after a six-month series of tests on one of our community wells that the untreated water was found to be GUDI—these tests being conducted without knowledge of the EPA nor the community. While we are grateful that the tests were conducted and our concerns verified, the secretive manner in which things have been done raises concern that things have been withheld from us and that the County has tried to short-circuit the EPA by appearing to be up-front on the issue, while stalling things for the last 2 years. We have also learned recently that water quality studies/tests on our community system, have been conducted by other than VDH standards, and in some cases, waivers have been issued on some required tests. We are greatly surprised that those officials who should be most directly concerned with our health issues (VDH, Loudoun Water, and the Loudoun County government) have chosen to ignore rules and regulations related to water quality. We are also informed by Loudoun Water that a contingency plan has been developed to provide water to us in an emergency situation, but we have been denied information as to what the plan provides.
As you are aware, many of the members of the current County Board of Supervisors were elected on a slow growth development platform. In order to implement this policy, the Board has chosen to rely on subterfuges such as the Limestone Overlay District (LOD) with its limestone karst difficulties and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (from which Loudoun County is exempted) as means to restrict development. Unfortunately, these solutions only tend to punch more holes in the limestone base on which the area exists, further exasperating the potential for more GUDI from new sinkholes that would be created by drilling for more wells.
We’re sure you can understand our request for Federal assistance in resolving our issues regarding water quality, and would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you to discuss what options may exist for us to explore, given the insensitivity of our local authorities. We look forward to hearing from you very soon.
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