Chisman Creek and Wolf Trap Parks: A Success Story:  - Parks and Facilities Home

Thanks to a unique agreement among Virginia Power, York County and the Environmental Protection Agency, softball teams today shag fly balls and soccer players score goals on a "Superfund" site where fly ash and petroleum coke once polluted well water.

The $10 million change from waste site to recreational parks occurred in 1991 with the dedication of two softball fields at Chisman Creek Park. Four youth soccer fields, known as Wolf Trap Park, were opened in the spring of 1992.

From 1957-74, a local contractor hauled away fly ash generated by burning of coal and petroleum coke at the Yorktown Power Station and placed it in three pits on his property along Chisman Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. In 1980, two residents who lived near the pits noticed a yellowish-green tint in their well water. Tests showed the water-contained vanadium, which is contained in petroleum coke and coke ash, above background levels.

In 1983, the EPA placed Chisman Creek site on the "Superfund" list, because of the levels of trace metals above that normally found in the immediate area. Remedial action normally would have included an area secured with a fence and barbed wire.

But York County and Virginia Power had a better idea. Although no one had taken a "Superfund" site and made it useful to a community before, they came up with the idea for the recreational parks.

Virginia Power will always be involved at Chisman Creek; the company owns the land and will retain liability for the fly ash and any contamination from the fly ash. York County is leasing the land from the company for a fee equal to County property tax charges.

But the involvement is more pleasant today because of a unique partnership between the company, the County and the federal government. And the beneficiaries can be seen during the spring, summer and fall, hitting and catching softballs and kicking soccer balls.