Burnie
Mansfield still remembers the 1963 explosion, when huge tanks caught fire at
the former Eppinger and Russell wood treatment f acility,
18 firemen were injured and at least 40,000 gallons of raw “creosote,” the
tar used to treat telephone poles, escaped towards the Elizabeth River at
Money Point.
More than four decades later, Mansfield is an enthusiastic
participant on The Elizabeth River Project’s new Task Force for the
Revitalization of Money Point, on the South Norfolk shore of the river. With
$5 million set aside in a sister Trust fund (see separate story) to clean up
the off-shore mess, correlated with cancer in fish, Mansfield is helping
plan how current industries and residents along the shore can prevent
recontamination while taking advantage of a new day for this long-blighted
point.
Mansfield, who works at
the nearby LaFarge plant on Money Point, in Cheapeake’s South Norfolk, on
May 10 gave Task Force members an eye-witness account of the fire as they
toured Money Point aboard a cruise donated by the Carrie B. The University
of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation is facilitating the
Task Force for Elizabeth River
Project, with more than 50 participants from industries, the community,
state, city and
federal agencies and other stakeholders.
Also on board the Carrie
B, providing explanations of potential cleanup options, was the engineering
firm of SAIC. The firm was hired by The Elizabeth River Project in early May
after a national search for the best firm to complete sampling of the
estimated 35 acres of off-shore contamination and recommend the cleanup
strategy. The $300,000 study is to be completed by October 2006, with
critical interaction with the task force throughout.
- All seven industries
along the adjacent shore at Money Point will need to provide input such
as regarding future navigation needs that could limit cleanup options.
One option is a thin layer to “cap” the contamination with clean
material such as sand, but this will not be done where future navigation
needs exist. A combination of capping and removal of contamination may
be considered.
- Industries and
residents, with the help of city, state, federal and private experts
including UVA’s urban architect Phoebe Crisman, are planning the
revitalization of the shoreline. This is critical as many sediment
cleanup projects never reach implementation due to concern that the site
will re-contaminate from sources not addressed on shore.
Amerada Hess, the oil
refinery and one of the largest current landowners at Money Point, has
entered its site in the state’s Voluntary Remediation Program with extensive
plans for addressing any current sources of contamination. Hess sponsored
dinner for Task Force members on the cruise.
Also addressing the task
force was Kristeen Gaffney with the US Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III, to describe funding resources which may be available for
shoreline cleanups.
The Task force, which
convened in January 2005, has set this vision: To make Money Point “a model
for the coexistence of thriving industries and environmental regeneration.”
UVA graduate students,
helping with the project, have prepared a brief history of Money Point,
available through The Elizabeth River Project. UVA and Elizabeth River
Project staff met with about 30 community members at Money Point Baptist
Church over dinner on May 9, and planted a tree to celebrate the
revitalization.
Special thanks to project
sponsors including: Virginian-Pilot, Virginia Environmental Endowment,
Andrus Family Foundation, Elizabeth River Restoration Trust.
For information or to get
involved in the Money Point project, call Joe Rieger at The Elizabeth River
Project, 399-7487. |
