Other problems plague Goochland

It's not just missing checks.

Goochland County's utilities department is confronting a growing list of problems:

LANDFILL: Concerns dating back years about excessive methane gas coming from the county landfill at Hidden Rock Park are now being addressed.

A new $70,000 system to reduce methane levels is almost complete after the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ordered it installed last year.

Goochland ran afoul of the DEQ when readings in 2006 and 2007 exceeded what is known as the lower explosive limit, or the minimum amount of a gas in the air that can cause an explosion.

Plans that had been submitted to the DEQ by the county in 2006 were never carried out, said Don Charles, director of community development, prompting safety concerns. The county's annual fireworks display is held at the park.

KINLOCH: Odor issues in Kinloch development have cast doubts on the quality of water being pumped through lines in the recently completed Tuckahoe Creek Service District in the eastern end of the county.

Goochland has spent nearly $35,000 since mid-June, when the county began addressing water-odor complaints from homeowners, flushing the system 64 times, using 1.5 million gallons of water. The county says the water is safe to drink, but a solution to the odor problem will cost another $35,000 at a minimum.

"We've got over $60 million worth of infrastructure that in my mind is questionable," Supervisor Ned S. Creasey said.

PUMP STATION: The county is trying to figure out how much money it has collected from Henrico County for use of a pump station in eastern Goochland over the past three years.

Charles, who took over the utilities department in December, said he was in the process of trying to account for more than $2 million in operating costs owed to Goochland by Henrico for use and treatment of the station from 2006-08.

"Maybe they've never been billed," Supervisor Malvern R. "Rudy" Butler said. "Who knows?"

Charles said county records did not clearly indicate how much had been received from Henrico, though he did confirm a check had recently come in for $875,000.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .

Goochland Gazette Editor Amy Condra contributed to this report.