VOLUME 4 | NUMBER 19
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MAY 6-12, 2016 WWW.INSIDENOVA.COM
NORT HE RN V I R G I N I A M E DI A S E R V I C ES
InTheKnow
How Dominion will clean up coal-ash
Off Key? InsideNoVa.com was the first to report last week about the purchase of a $125,000 Steinway grand piano for the new Colgan High School. Now one school board member is calling for it to be sent back. READ THE STORY ON PAGE 16
Murder Mystery Who killed Lizbeth Lopez? The 36-yearold youth counselor disappeared April 17 after visiting a client in Lake Ridge. Her body was found in a drainage ditch 12 days later, not far from where she vanished.
Stephen Smiddy, an employee with ProAct Services Corporation, eyes a sample of treated coal-ash pond water at Dominion’s Possum Point power plant. PHOTOS BY DELIA ENGSTROM | FOR INSIDENOVA
READ THE LATEST ON THE CASE ON PAGE 10, AND SEE VIDEO OF THE LAST TIME LOPEZ WAS SEEN ALIVE AT INSIDENOVA.COM/ MULTIMEDIA.
Dominion Virginia Power offers an inside look at the $35 million process of treating and releasing coal-ash water into Quantico Creek
Celebrating moms
JILL PALERMO
Pick up a copy of this month’s Washington FAMILY Magazine and read about the 12 local women selected by readers as Moms of the Year – from active volunteers to breastfeeding pioneers. Washington FAMILY is available for free at more than 2,000 locations around the Washington area.
SEE WASHINGTONFAMILY.COM FOR MORE DETAILS.
jpalermo@insidenova.com
O
n Monday, Virginia Dominion Power will begin the process of treating and releasing about 220 million gallons of water from its coal-ash ponds into Quantico Creek, and eventually into the Potomac River, an endeavor that will cost $35 million and take nearly a year to complete. During a two-hour media tour of the Dumfries-area power plant Tuesday, Dominion officials detailed the water-treatment facility they’ve assembled near the banks of
The annual Manassas Air Show returns this weekend with highflying antics, and some aviation treasures on the ground, too. READ ABOUT IT ON PAGE 6
Jason Williams, a Dominion Virginia Power environmental manager, describes the treatment plans for coal-ash pond water at Possum Point power plant.
new federal rules requiring power plants to drain and close coal-ash ponds around
CREEK PAGE 3
Corey Stewart running for governor JILL PALERMO
Flying High
“pond D,” the largest of five holding ponds the utility has used to store coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal to make electricity. Dominion hasn’t burned coal at Possum Point since 2003. The power plant is located just outside of Dumfries on the Possum Point peninsula, so named because it’s shaped like a possum’s head. The plant now burns only natural gas. But Dominion must clean up an estimated 200,000 cubic yards of coal ash that has accumulated at the plant since it opened in 1948. As was the industry standard, the ash was dumped in pits and covered with water to keep it from becoming airborne. Massive coal-ash spills in Tennessee and North Carolina in recent years prompted
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jpalermo@insidenova.com
orey Stewart says he’s running for governor in part because he has a lot in common with Donald J. Trump, who clinched the Republican nomination for president Tuesday. “I’m a lot like him,” Stewart said of Trump,
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who chose Stewart to lead his campaign in Virginia last December. “I like to fight. I stand up for my values. I stand up for people and I never back down.” Stewart, 47, is serving his third term at the helm
COREY STEWART
of Prince William County government after being re-elected chairman of the board of supervisors last November with about 56 percent of the vote. Stewart was already talking about seeking higher office on Election Day last fall, but said he wanted to wait RUN a bit before announcing his PAGE 18 next move.
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