SPORTS: Haley Van Voorhis debuts; Kettle Run, Fauquier, Liberty football coverage; field hockey, volleyball reports. PAGES 10, 11, 12. September 27, 2023
Our 206th year | Vol. 206, No. 39 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2022
Vint Hill water exceeds new PFAS rules By Hunter Savery
Stricter PFAS standards
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
For residents of Vint Hill, the legacy of a long-ago military training site is having lasting environmental effects, and the safety of drinking water has become a growing concern as a particular type of contaminant known as “forever chemicals” are being better understood. Military burn pits may conjure images of toxic smoke in faraway desertscapes, but for decades one served as a training ground for military firefighters in Fauquier County’s Vint Hill. While the Army closed the base in 1997, the firefighting foams used in that burn pit remain trapped in the soil, leaching the toxic chemicals into Vint Hill’s groundwater for decades.
U.S. Department of Defense tests of drinking water wells at Vint Hill have showed contamination from PFAS chemicals for years. Recent tests have measured the harmful chemicals at between 50 and 1,200 parts per trillion. The Environmental Protection Agency has tightened its standards has tightened its standards over the past few years. • 2016 EPA lifetime limit (still used by the U.S. Army): 70 parts per trillion • 2023 proposed EPA lifetime limit: 4 parts per trillion TIMES STAFF PHOTO/HUNTER SAVERY
Once a U.S. Army base, Vint Hill is now home to a mix of residences and businesses. Vint Hill is one of more than 700 former and current military sites where “PFAS” chemicals are presenting major health and environmental risks to local communities. The Army Corps of Engineers continues to tell Fauquier County authorities,
SOURCES: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
residents and business owners that the levels of PFAS detected in their water supply are no reason for alarm. But experts say the level of PFAS found in the water is cause for concern. In fact, the levels of PFAS chemicals found in Vint Hill—both on and off base— far exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed lifetime exposure of 4 parts
See PFAS, page 4
Warrenton pushes back on secrecy complaints
It’s pawpaw season
Act fast if you want to try Virginia’s only native ‘tropical’ fruit
Nonprofit appeals FOIA ruling, cries foul over redacted Amazon site plan
By Cher Muzyk
Fauquier Times Staff Writer
The pawpaw is a native fruit that grows on trees in forests right here in Northern Virginia. Foragers and historians have long appreciated this “tropical” fruit that is only available for a few weeks each fall, but foodies have recently taken note because of its unique flavor and limited availability. In our area, pawpaws have been falling from trees for a couple weeks now, a sign that this year’s season is quickly wrapping up. The pawpaw’s native range is from southern Michigan down the East Coast to the panhandle of Florida. The pawpaw tree blooms beautiful dark red flowers in April. The fruit sets in June, and the mature fruits ripen right around now after a long summer growing season. When the fruits reach about three to six inches long, turn a greenish-black color and either fall to the ground or can easily be shaken from the tree, they are ripe and ready to be consumed. Pawpaws aren’t commercially available in
per trillion, a standard that’s expected to be finalized this year. In 2021 tests by the U.S. Department of Defense, one dangerous chemical, PFOA, was measured in Vint Hill’s drinking water at 1,200 parts per trillion, a level about 300 times higher than what the EPA’s proposed standard.
By Peter Cary
Piedmont Journalism Foundation
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/CHER MUZYK
Attendees of Clifton Institute’s “Party in the pawpaw patch” enjoy Virginia’s only native “tropical” fruit.
Government secrecy with regard to data centers is once again an issue in Warrenton, as the town pushed back against its critics on two fronts: its ongoing refusal to divulge emails between town officials discussing the pending Amazon data center and the heavily redacted site plan for the data center on Blackwell Road. See FOIA, page 6
grocery stores because there is a very high ratio of large seeds in the fruit compared to its edible flesh, and they ripen quickly and become soft so they “won’t last any distance in a truck,” explained Eleanor Harris, Clifton Institute’s managing director, at the organization’s annual “Party in the PawPaw Patch,” on Friday, Sept. 22.
A rendering of the Amazon data center approved for Blackwell Road.
See PAWPAWS, page 17
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44th Annual Fall Festival now set for Oct. 7. Page 8
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