More than 120 properties in the Broad Run Farms community affected by Hidden Lane Landfill superfund site groundwater contamination will be hooked up to the public water system by the federal Environmental Protestion Agency, according to Virginia’s Loudoun County.
The construction won’t cost property owners a dime but it will cost the agency millions.
The privately owned and operated Hidden Lane Landfill was a 25-acre disposal site that health officials with both the county and Virginia deemed to be the likely source of Broad Run Farms drinking water contamination first discovered in 1989.
The chemical that was discovered is called trichloroethylene, or TCE. According to the National Toxicology Program (an interagency group coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), it’s primarily used in two ways: to make hydrofluorocarbon chemicals, especially refrigerants, and as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts.
The NIH also says it’s a known carcinogen and can increase the risk of cancer.
“We are grateful to the EPA for this decision and while we advocated for the extension of public water to the entire Broad Run Farms community, this is a significant action that will benefit those residents most directly impacted in the community,” Algonkian District Supervisor Suzanne Volpe, who represents the area on the Board of Supervisors, said in a Thursday news release.
“I would also like to commend the dedicated and long-term efforts of Loudoun County staff as well as the Virginia Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality for getting us to this milestone.”
There’s no word yet on when construction of the new water lines is slated to begin.
For more information about the Hidden Lane Landfill, including links to the EPA documents and contact information for residents with questions, visit loudoun.gov/HiddenLaneLandfill.
