Letter to Sally Kurtz, Loudoun County Board of Supervisor Representative - Delay in the Dye Trace Study

April 1, 2011

Ms. Sally Kurtz

Supervisor, Catoctin District

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

1 Harrison Street, S.E.,
Fifth Floor, Mailstop #01
Leesburg, VA 20177-7000

RE:  Raspberry Falls Community Water Concerns

Dear Supervisor Kurtz:

On behalf of the Concerned Citizens of Raspberry Falls, we very much appreciated your initiative in obtaining an offer from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a “Dye-Trace Study” in our community to evaluate potential connections between the surface water and Raspberry Falls’ Drinking Water Wells.  (S. Kurtz 10/21/2009 Letter to EPA Washington DC Branch Chief Paul White, Attachment 1)

Two years have passed and the Dye Trace Study has not commenced due to intentional delays, political posturing and Developer, Van Metre’s outright refusal to allow the EPA scientist, Malcolm Field, unconditional access to the targeted land to conduct the study.

It is an outrage to residents in Raspberry Falls to witness Van Metre’s obstructionist behavior regarding the conduct of a Dye Tracing Study that will ultimately protect the safety and welfare of the residents who live in the homes that Van Metre built.

As a result of this extreme delay, on March 31, 2011, EPA scientist Malcolm Field has indicated that “neither his management nor EPA Region III are inclined to have [him] devote any more time, energy or resources to [the Raspberry Falls Dye Trace] project.”  (Malcolm Field’s (EPA) 3/31/2011 email to Charles Yudd, Loudoun County Assistant Deputy Administrator and Loudoun County Supervisor Sally Kurtz, Attachment 2)

Today, we wrote to Philip Yeany, Esq., attorney for the EPA requesting that he promptly pursue the judicial avenues he stated were at the EPA’s disposal to procure unimpeded access to the land in question for the EPA’s Dye Trace Study to proceed. (Mitchell Zuckerman’s (Raspberry Falls) 3/31/2011 Email to Philip Yeany, Esq. EPA, Attachment 3; Philip Yeany, Esq., EPA Counsel’s 2/24/2011 Letter to M. Banzhaf, Reed Smith, Attachment 4)

It has always been our position that the outcome of the Dye Trace Study will be essential in determining the most cost-effective solution to our contaminated water problem.  

We are further dismayed at Loudoun Water’s retraction of their promise to create a “Citizens Advisory Committee” which would work closely with Loudoun Water in the study of alternative water solutions for Raspberry Falls.  The December 2010 Resolution by the Loudoun Water Board indicated that “time is of the essence” and yet two months have elapsed without any communication from Loudoun Water to us as to the status of any facility plans, financing plans or implementation plans. (Loudoun Water Board of Directors’ Resolution of December 9, 2010 re: Raspberry Falls – Attachment 5) As our representative on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, you requested that the EPA perform the Dye Trace Study in our community to protect our health and safety.  The Board of Supervisors formally requested Loudoun Water to perform a study of the available water alternatives for our community.  The Loudoun Water Board of Supervisors resolved to commence the study of water treatment plant options or a Town of Leesburg pipeline.   The EPA’s Dye Trace Study will show whether our current wells – PW-2 and Well-F -- as well as the Selma community’s wells are GUDI and will greatly influence the sufficiency and viability of the water solutions being studied.

We respectfully request that you directly enforce your 2009 request to the EPA to perform the Dye Trace Study utilizing whatever governmental authority they would require to enter the land unimpeded by Van Metre’s conditions or restrictions.

Sincerely,

CONCERNED CITIZENS OF RASPBERRY FALLS
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