Two and one half years ago, the GFCA Board commissioned its Special Committee on Groundwater Contamination, to ensure proper cleanup of gasoline chemicals that leaked from the former Exxon service station at 9901 Georgetown Pike in Great Falls.
The Committee, comprised of GFCA, the Great Falls Business and Professional Association, and outside experts, engaged with the Virginia Department of Environmental Conservation (DEQ), Fairfax Petroleum Realty, the current property owner, and its environmental consultant company, Kleinfelder East, to address this cleanup. The eventual plans developed for cleaning up the contamination was addressed in two GFCA Town Hall Meetings, numerous other technical meetings, and press statements issued to inform the public.
Ongoing cleanup has consisted of Vapor Extraction of the chemical from shallow unsaturated areas, and pumping and charcoal treatment of deeper groundwater. As of this time, about a year after pumping began, over 3 million gallons of groundwater has been treated to remove the principal contaminant, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), and contamination levels at many monitoring points have been reduced to nearly the target values or End Points set by the DEQ. Monitoring of private wells around the commercial areas has not detected contamination. Some monitoring points persist, however, so the work continues.
The Special Committee continues to review the results in quarterly monitoring reports. A graph depicting the latest reported contamination levels is shown below.
