Mid-Atlantic Superfund

EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)

Prince William County
Gainsville

EPA ID# VA0981036858

7th Congressional District

Last Update: May 2000

Other Names

Current Site Status

The Responsible Parties signed a Consent Order in May, 1999 agreeing to implement measures to prevent migration of hazardous substances, determine the extent of contamination at the Site and to remove the contamination to safe levels. The Response Action Plan has been revised in response to EPA’s comments but is still not approved by EPA.

Site Description

Sam Jones Junkyard is an active automotive salvage and industrial junkyard located in Prince William County on State Routes 29/11. The Site is approximately one mile west of Gainesville, Virginia. Operations reportedly began in 1934 by the current property owner. The junkyard property is roughly 66 acres in size. The majority of the property is covered with salvage material including old automobiles, tires, metal scrap, batteries, transformers and 55 gallon drums. Two large mounds of “trash” containing various car parts, vessels, and miscellaneous materials, are located onsite. A quarry, located in the approximate center of the junkyard, operated in the 1960s and is now filled with water. The property is accessible to the general public. The Site is drained by the North Fork Creek into Lake Manassas, a public water source, less than two miles from the site. The Site is bounded on the east by a residential development.

Site Responsibility

The Loudoun County Department of Health and the Virginia Deparment of Environmental Quality have been the key agencies addressing the contamination issues at the site up until now. If the site is added to the National Priorities List, the EPA will take the lead and work with these other agencies at resolving the environmental and health risks at the site.

NPL Listing History

On September 19, 2007 the EPA proposed to add the site to the NPL. The deadline for comments on the listing was November 19, 2007.

Threats and Contaminants

A preliminary assessment was conducted in 1985 by the Virginia Department of Health’s Bureau of Waste Management (VADOH) for EPA’s Superfund program. VADOH recommended a more thorough investigation based on its Site observations. VADOH conducted a Site inspection in 1986, collected and analyzed nine samples of soils onsite, three sediment and three surface water samples from North Fork Creek and one onsite and two offsite well water samples. Pesticides, Poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals were detected in Site soils (lead: 55,600 parts per million) and Poly-Chloroethylene was detected in the onsite well (180 parts per billion). A 1997 sampling event revealed elevated concentrations of the following volatile and semi volatile organic compounds: benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, xylene n-nitrosodiphenylamine, dibenzofuran, PaHs and PCBs were identified in a drum at over 90%. PCB contamination was also found in sediments from North Fork Creek.

Cleanup Progress

On April 29, 1999, EPA approved an Action Memorandum for additional funds necessary to stabilize the site against continued releases. In May, 1999, the Respondent signed an Administrative Order for Removal Response Action. EPA received the Response Action Plan required under the Order in June 1999, provided comments and received the revised sampling plan in December 1999. That plan requires revision prior to EPA approval in order to satisfy the requirements of the Order.

Contacts

Site Contacts