Golf course residents fear fly ash residue

NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Residents along a Virginia golf course say they are concerned about their health after learning the site was built on fly ash from a nearby electric plant.

Neighbors recently learned that The Battlefield Golf Club at Centerville, Va., was built using 1.5 million tons of fly ash, a powdery metal containing residue from coal that had been used to produce electricity, The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday.

Tests have indicated groundwater at the golf course contains high levels of arsenic, lead, manganese and other heavy metals. Residents told The Virginia-Pilot they worry how much of the toxic residue might have been carried into their wells or homes.

"We had summer winds, storms, we had flooding that occurred," resident Karen Fox said. "What's to say that didn't roll off?"

Peter deFur, a Richmond, Va., environmental consultant, told the newspaper: "The citizens are exactly correct. They have every reason to be concerned. ... I think the authorities need to get some samples from those floodwaters."