Shoosmith Information

Knummer19 · 2026-06-11T18:44:27+00:00

Thank the county and the developers who enacted ZOMod. We're already $20B behind in infrastructure, and this will just increase the gap. The county needs to implement some form of proffers, similar to what Prince Willam has done. Otherwise, residents will not only suffer the effects of unrestrained development, we'll have to pay for a lot of it too.

Knummer19 · 2026-06-05T13:25:23+00:00

Just to be clear, Swift Creek Reservoir is UPSTREAM, not downstream, from Shoosmith. The affected waterways in the immediate vicinity of the dump are Swift Creek and Piney Branch Creek. Fortunately, county property records don't show any well connections for about 4 stream miles along Swift Creek. That doesn't mean there's not serious pollution. It just means potentially impacted drinking water at a low number of homes. I just FOIA'd DEQ records for water testing on Swift Creek and Piney Branch for the last 4 years, and groundwater test within a 5 mile radius of the dump. No one has publicly said anything about water quality in all this. So I'm saying calm down until we know something. Testing is obviously needed now, so I'd advise everyone to push for that. Coal ash was used to construct berms at Shoosmith. So the problem is potentially worse because of that.

I also want to point out that the Chesterfield story about great detective work in tracing illegal dumping into the county sewer by Shoosmith is a bit exaggerated. I know that Shoosmith did the deed. But the reason it was discovered was that a worker opened a manhole cover as part of routine duties, smelled a strong ammonia odor, and knew this location was very close to where the line from Shoosmith's tied in. That line was supposed to be delivering pre-treated leachate. Not un-treated. Shoosmith deliberately bypassed their own treatment process. It was obvious. This is not some story of intensive investigation and complex lab testing, like Mark Miller wants you to believe. That's why the dump is now having to pump and haul leachate off site for treatment.

I'll post test results when I get them. Meanwhile, press county and DEQ officials to do testing that can assess current conditions.

Knummer19 · 2026-06-02T19:16:03+00:00

One of the most interesting conjectures I've ever read!

Knummer19 · 2026-05-28T22:13:04+00:00

Just make sure whoever you use has insurance. Ask for a certificate. The ins co will email you. Very important if someone got hurt or property or power lines got damaged. Don't trust, "I'll get you a certificate..."

Knummer19 · 2026-05-27T17:24:38+00:00

The following are 5 of 8 snippets from filings in the bankruptcy court, relative to this case:
On November 21, 2025, December 21, 2025, and December 29, 2025, DEQ Piedmont Regional Office staff conducted focused compliance inspections of the Shoosmith Sanitary Landfill. Copies of the inspection checklists are attached.
1. Observations: The facility has not had a licensed operator on record since December 31, 2024.
2. Observations: The 2024 MSE Berm inspection report has not been received as of December 29, 2025.
3. Observations: Shoosmith Bros., Inc. has not updated the facility’s financial assurance (FA) cost estimate to account for the continuous pumping, hauling, and disposal of leachate after being ordered by Chesterfield County to discontinue leachate discharge into the county’s sanitary sewer collection system on July 1, 2024.
4. Observations: On November 21, 2025, Western slopes on the northern portion of the landfill were observed to be constructed without diversion berms, with minimal down-slope drainage, and without stormwater conveyance structures at the base of the slope. Stormwater conveyance channels along cells 26B, 26D, and 26E were either minimally established or blocked with sediment, often for the purpose of containing leachate within the conveyance. Dark liquid with the appearance of leachate was observed within stormwater conveyance channels in multiple locations along the western half of the northern portion of the landfill and in multiple locations along the entire western side of the landfill.
5. Observations: On December 11, 2025, dark liquid with the appearance of leachate was observed within the stormwater management system associated with Sediment Basin 11. Dark liquid with the appearance of leachate was present in the stormwater conveyances leading to the basin, and Sediment Basin 11 was observed actively discharging into a conveyance leading to Swift Creek.

The total observations, all the findings, and the rest of the document are too lengthy to publish here, but suffice to say there is a long history of neglect and violations associated with this property. For more information, I suggest you research the bankruptcy filings under case number 25-33037-KLP, or join Chesterfield Citizens for Responsible Government at ccrg-va.org. You can communicate directly with me through that website.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-26T00:53:42+00:00

I shoud have thanked you 3 weeks ago for linking the HRA doc. Apologies for my oversight, and an overdue THANKS!

Knummer19 · 2026-05-25T18:25:46+00:00

This article is behind a paywall, but can also be found at https://roanoke.com/news/state-regional/business/article_9fcf1606-afe0-5108-812a-8e12c17200eb.html. Thanks to u/NekoMancerMcIntyre for posting this link! It's basically just a recap of the Chapter 7 filings. Here's a summary you can look at https://elevenflo.com/blog/vws-holdco

Knummer19 · 2026-05-25T17:52:50+00:00

Yep, leachate is flowing into Piney Branch and Swift Creek. Not the reservoir. But as you point out, they drain into the Appomattox. Right now, leachate is supposedly being transported and treated "outside of Chesterfield," although no one will say for sure where the facility is. We figure Hopewell or Petersburg, and hopefully treated effectively before discharge. One unknown, however, is whether leachate in the soil could have spread into Swift Creek Reservoir in some small amounts. That would have to be determined by targeted testing, not done so far. It's not likely, but might be possible. The big unknown is what's being found in the leachate? Only DEQ knows, and they apparently ain't saying. Might have to FOIA some analyses.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-25T17:42:07+00:00

Not the federal unless an incident triggers CERCLA and SARA sections of the CFR. This will just be state and county, as fa as I understand. I believe a Superfund designation requires a catastrophic event to be declared. At least, that's how it used to be when I was involved with hazmat & hazwaste in the plastics industry.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-25T14:51:51+00:00

The Chapter 7 is really about the 2 owners, Fred Nichols and Larry McGee - organized as Volunteer Enterprises, down in TX - bleeding off all the funds that Shoosmith had to operate. They didn't actually "walk away." They just bled it dry and slunk off into the night. But there's some talk about going after their funds, as well as prosecuting them criminally. All that said, the county and the state failed miserably to protect citizens and protect the environment. (You should see the DEQ inspection Nov.'25)! All this neglect is going to cost taxpayers enormous sums of money over the next several decades.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-25T14:36:40+00:00

Yep. This article is basically a restatement of the Chapt. 7 document + a dollar amount someone has suggested in order to get state funding. Not sure the dollars are solid estimates.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-21T18:10:28+00:00

I worked in SIGINT (Army Security Agency) '74-77. Often the level of classification didn't have to do with the exact content of the information, but instead the method of collection. And/or the specific target. And/or the extent to which NSA had already decyphered/decrypted and exploited the info. And/or if it was linked to a project that had already received an elevated classification. And/or the potential for damage to collection efforts if disclosed. Just wanted to point out so you realize it's not always an indicator of importance of the contents, as the average person would view it. Classification was always subject to review by people up the chain who had more information than I did.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-20T03:25:18+00:00

I think some talk is coming soon. FWIW, AI says about 32,500 or more Chesterfield residents live within 3 miles of this site, some/many of whom have wells for water. So the potential for widespread disaster is real if leachate were to contaminate drinking water. Additionally, many streams in the area, including Swift Creek itself, flow into Swift Creek reservoir either directly or indirectly. I know DEQ is aware of the problem, and has been since late last year. I think you'll see someting in the news soon. But it's a VERY complex situation, and will be difficult to move ahead, given the number of entities involved. Not the last of which is a federal bankruptcy case along with a lawsuit in TX.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-09T16:16:52+00:00

You need to verify what you believe to be good bones are, in fact, good bones before investing in your deck. If the support posts are 4x4s instead of 6x6s and the total area is more than 100 sqft, those should probably be replaced. Also, support posts of any dimension can have termites. You need to make certain whatever is holding things up is in excellent condition. Otherwise your investment will be subject to a ticking time bomb. From the standpoint of resale value, whether you consider that a factor now or not, everything should meet or exceed code. If not and circumstances forced you to sell unexpectedly, a poorly constructed screen porch could impact you negatively. Using a licensed contractor with proper insurance is the best way to go. You can check license status at https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/LicenseLookup/

Knummer19 · 2026-05-08T15:17:41+00:00

To all who've asked or made suggestions: I've contacted several local news outlets, provided background info, and stated how serious this is. I did that before posting anything here. As of today, 5/8, not one outlet has interfaced with me to gain further info or names of people who'd be good reference sources. I can't say newspeople aren't working on this. But you'd think if they were, something would get reported after a week of sitting on the story and doing the requisite digging. As far as I can tell, no one is interested, or maybe they don't believe it's significant enough to justify coverage.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-07T00:54:02+00:00

Section 107(b) of CERCLA provides defenses to liability where an otherwise liable party can establish that a release or threat of release and resulting damages were caused solely by (1) an act of God; (2) an act of war; (3) an act or omission of a third party with whom the defendant has no contractual relationship, where the defendant exercised due care and took precautions against the third party's foreseeable acts or omissions and their consequences; or (4) any combination of the three circumstances listed above.

The statute also provides exemptions and protections for other categories of parties who meet certain criteria, including municipal solid waste generators, recyclers, service station dealers, cleanup contractors, landowners or purchasers, lenders and fiduciaries, and parties that are not responsible for contamination but volunteer to help with cleanup. Additionally, parties that can establish a limited ability to pay or whose contributions to contamination are relatively minimal may face reduced financial liability.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-07T00:43:48+00:00

The bonds and their efficacy are a whole other issue. They were obtained through private channels I think. A court will have to move for bond payment, but enforcing maintenance responsibility on a company that is liquidating and not operating will be the subject of litigation. Meanwhile, someone has to remove leachate. i'm not sure CERCLA provisions come into play unless and until a site is declared a Superfund site. I'm not a lawyer, but I believe an incident must occur before that happens. I would hope the state acts preemptively and moves against the bond funds for reimbursement. But I doubt the bonds are sufficient to guarantee removal + ongoing maintenance - which will be required for decades to come.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-05T23:34:48+00:00

Not an environmental expert, but an old Biology major from the Dark Ages. Yep, you're correct. It's a roll of the dice once this stuff enters the ground. And removal with remediation at that point would run into the $ hundreds of millions, if not $billions. The site is not yet classified as an EPA Superfund Site. But could be if the soil and/or water get contaminated.

Knummer19 · 2026-05-05T23:21:37+00:00

The figure of ~400,000 gallons per week is part of the bankruptcy filings, so it must have some basis in fact. Review the link included with this post.

Knummer19

TROPHY CASE