On Jan. 4, an outdoor fire on a 16-acre property owned by Cecil and Doris Gardner in Keswick, Va. led to a discovery of an illegal open junkyard containing hazardous waste. An investigation performed by the Zoning Division of the Community Development Department of Albemarle Co. found that the junkyard did not have a permit and therefore was a zoning violation.
An open forum was held yesterday between Albemarle residents expressing their concerns with the junkyard officials from the Zoning Division and the Commonwealth's Department of Environmental Equality to discuss these issues. County officials informed residents that sustained monitoring and cleanup of the dump site will continue.
Albemarle adopted a zoning ordinance that made junkyards on the Keswick property illegal in Dec. 1969. Despite four citizen complaints between 1969 and 2004, former zoning inspectors and other County officials mistakenly thought the junkyard complied with the "non-conforming use" policy-- applied to uses that existed lawfully prior to the adoption of an ordinance which made it illegal, according to Albemarle officials.
The result of the January fire led the County Attorney's office to re-evaluate the property and determined that the junkyard did not act in accordance with the non-conforming use policy. According to official Albemarle documents, aerial photographs taken after the 1969 ordinance show that the junkyard did not exist at the time.
In order to clean up the property, the owners were asked to be in voluntary compliance with all government agencies.Zoning Administrator Amelia McCulley said this is standard procedure and judicial action will be taken only if the property owners don't comply with the regulations. She said if progress ceases, "judicial action will need to be taken."
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently monitoring the site and cleaning up the area.There were approximately 14,298 pounds of material on the site, but only 30 percent of it has been cleaned up, according to Albemarle spokesperson Lee Catlin.
The DEQ claims that all urgent materials have been removed, although they cite some uncertainty.
DEQ Environmental Program Planner Jed Pascarella said the department is trying to ensure there are no remaining threats to human health but have no data to confirm health fears for residents living away from the dumpsite.
However, many Albemarle residents argued last night that the county officials' course of action won't remedy the problem, disagreeing with the county giving the Gardners the responsibility of complying with the clean-up procedure. They argue that the Gardners may not have the financial means to complete the operation and the county should take responsibility since it was their mistake.
A land attorney who represents many property owners near the dumpsite addressed the crowd last night, arguing against the county's course of action.He said there were no comprehensive evaluations done on the site and that since there was nobody qualified to perform the evaluations, that site must be considered hazardous.
In an effort to argue that the responsibility should be lifted from the owners, the attorney pointed out that the owners may be destroying any incriminating evidence.
Many residents are concerned with the environmental factors that could be affected from this site. Residents argued that the DEQ had not done any extensive samples of soil and water quality, and expressed worry in possible contamination of ground water.
However, when this issue was addressed at the meeting, Pascarella said his department will be conducting further investigations.
When the environmental concerns were addressed to the Zoning Division, McCulley said she could not comment on them.
"The county is making routine inspections," she said.
Despite the concerns of the local residents, the Department of Environmental Equality and Zoning Division will continue to work with the voluntary compliance from the Gardners and will determine if the wastes have been properly disposed of within 120 days.
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