A construction and demolition landfill in Hanover County faces scrutiny from regulators and residents after tests showed repeated groundwater contamination and a history of regulatory lapses.
Sean Jones reports for Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In short:
- The Ashcake Road Landfill has detected pollutants like chloroform, cobalt, arsenic, and cadmium in groundwater since 2021, prompting state monitoring and a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) warning letter citing potential violations of water law.
- Residents of nearby historically Black communities, including Brown Grove, oppose the landfill's proposed 95-acre expansion, citing broken promises and environmental concerns; a final vote is scheduled for April 26.
- The facility has a track record of safety and compliance failures, including OSHA violations after a 2003 worker death and repeated DEQ citations for failing to inspect incoming waste.
Key quote:
“The safety and life and death of workers is a serious matter. Transparency is critically important.”
— Bob Nelson, Hanover resident
Why this matters:
The Ashcake Road Landfill, originally built to accept nonhazardous construction and demolition debris, now sits at the heart of a deepening controversy. Despite longstanding assurances to the community that it would not expand, growing regional waste needs are pressuring state and local officials to reconsider. DEQ monitoring has revealed contamination from toxic metals and industrial solvents in and around the site. For Brown Grove, a historically Black community already surrounded by industrial infrastructure, the potential for groundwater contamination and long-term health effects compounds an existing legacy of environmental burden. Residents and advocates argue that their concerns have too often been sidelined in planning decisions, turning the landfill dispute into a broader referendum on how Virginia handles race, public health, and environmental risk.
Related: North Carolina amplifies fight against persistent environmental pollutants
