Prince William Times - 02/29/2024

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BASKETBALL: Osbourn Park girls, Patriot boys advance to state semifinals. SPORTS, PAGES 9, 10

February 29, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 9 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Tests of ‘forever chemical’ sources in the Occoquan begin Vint Hill could be among contamination sites, experts say By Hunter Savery

Fauquier Times Staff Writer

“Forever chemicals” are toxic, widespread and nearly impossible to destroy — and they’re moving from polluted sites into local waterways. Now, tests are underway which could help determine whether PFAS contamination coming from the former Army base at Vint Hill is impacting the Occoquan Reservoir, a drinking water source for 800,000 people in Northern Virginia. PFAS compounds have been found in multiple waterways in Fauquier and Prince William counties, according to data from the United States Geological Survey. South Run, Broad Run and the Occoquan Reservoir have all tested positive for PFAS. The two smaller waterways — South Run and Broad Run — are connected to tributaries that flow from

PHOTO BY ROGER SNYDER

An aerial view of the Occoquan Reservoir, which is the drinking water source for 800,000 residents in eastern Prince William and Fairfax counties.

Vint Hill to the Occoquan Reservoir. Located at the border of Fauquier and Prince William counties, Vint Hill is a former U.S. Army base that’s now home to a mix of homes and businesses. For the past several years, the U.S. Department of Defense has been monitoring PFAS contamination at Vint Hill that is believed to be tied to a former burn pit where soldiers practiced putting out fires with firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals, which then leached into the soil and the groundwater. Some of the agency’s tests have shown PFAS levels in groundwater wells at the facility as high as 1,200 parts per trillion — 300 times higher than the EPA’s proposed limit for drinking water of 4 parts per trillion. While testing has not yet tied Vint Hill PFAS contamination to the Occoquan Reservoir, a 2021 report from the Army Corps of Engineers shows that groundwater from Vint Hill flows into the Occoquan watershed.

See PFAS, page 2

Manassas to buy former middle school for new fire station, park site Cher Muzyk

Times Staff Writer

PHOTO BY ROGER SNYDER

An aerial view of the former Marsteller Middle School on Sudley Road.

The City of Manassas will turn the former Marsteller Middle School and its surrounding 20 acres into a new fire station, community center and park. The city announced its plans last week to purchase the property from Manassas Baptist Church, located at 8730 Sudley Road, for $9.9 million. The city has budgeted an additional $1 million for renovations to the school and park. The church will retain its main building as well as the surrounding 6 acres, according to a City of Manassas news release. “In one transaction, we were able to address multiple needs that have been identified in our community survey and long-term planning: green space/fields, an indoor community center and a location for a future fire station,” interim City

Prince William schools hold first-ever drone competition, page 3

Manager Douglas Keen said in a statement. The city began discussing the plan to acquire the land and former school building last year. “The church and city worked together,” Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger said. The church “had an opportunity and were willing to sell.” “We are always mindful of what our residents’ needs are in this community, and it was time,” Davis-Younger wrote. “The city has done an amazing job and is in extremely good financial condition to allow us to fill the needs of the community and move swiftly when opportunity arises.” The city plans to turn a portion of the 20 acres into a public park that will include two baseball fields, a rectangular field, an outdoor running track and open green space for unstructured and passive recreation. See LAND SALE, page 4

Local breweries are getting ‘frogged,’ page 4

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