Hidden Lane Landfill / Broad Run Farms Water Contamination Issue

Loudoun County has been working with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Broad Run Farms and Country Side communities for several years to resolve the contamination issues at the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site.

News and Announcements

February 2024: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will begin excavation and off-site disposal of the trichloroethylene (TCE) source area February 20, 2024, as part of a remediation phase at the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site in Sterling.

February 2023: The Environmental Protection Agency has announced funding to start new cleanup projects at 22 Superfund sites and accelerate more than 100 other ongoing cleanups across the country, including the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund Site in Sterling.

February 2022: The Environmental Protection Agency announced a cleanup plan (PDF) that includes landfill cap repair and maintenance with land use controls, excavation with off-site disposal of principal threat source material and bioremediation of the groundwater.

April 2021:  EPA held a question and answer session on April 21, 2021, on the Proposed Remedial Action Plan - Operable Unit 3 (PDF) which addresses the contamination at the Hidden Lane Landfill site and surrounding area. 

On April 12, 2021, EPA issued a Proposed Remedial Action Plan: Operable Unit 3 (PDF) to address contamination in the landfill, soil, and bedrock at the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund Site. A pre-recorded video presentation on Proposed Remedial Action Plan: Operable Unit 3 was published in place of an in-person public meeting due to current social distancing and travel guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This video presentation contains information about the proposed cleanup, EPA’s preferred options, and details on how to submit comments via mail, e-mail and voicemail.  Please see the April 2021 Community Update Fact Sheet (PDF) for summary information regarding the proposed cleanup plan. The public comment period is from April 12 to May 12, 2021. For more information, visit the EPA Hidden Lane Landfill website.  

November 2019: A community meeting was held November 18, 2019, in which the Environmental Protection Agency and Loudoun County government provided an update on the Hidden Lane Landfill  Superfund site.

On September 19, 2019,the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the extension of a public main waterline throughout the Broad Run Farms subdivision in response to groundwater contamination from the Hidden Lane Landfill. This excludes the area already covered by the EPA Superfund Project, which will connect 124 properties in the Broad Run Farms community to public water at no expense to the property owners. The Board of Supervisors action will allow the installation of a main line throughout the remainder of the community. This will enable any future potential contamination to be quickly addressed by having the infrastructure in place to connect any affected homes to the central system.

June 2019: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has notified Loudoun County that it will connect 124 properties in the Broad Run Farms community to public water at no expense to the property owners. This includes homes currently affected by groundwater contamination as well as the homes in an EPA-designated “buffer zone” that could potentially be affected by contamination.

EPA Contacts

If you have questions about the Hidden Lane Landfill site, please contact the EPA:

Previous Actions

EPA’s Proposed Plan

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought public comment on its proposed plan for interim remedial action for the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund site. The plan and contact information for the EPA is online:

Community Meeting April 26, 2018

A community meeting concerning the Hidden Lane Landfill was held April 26, 2018 and included representatives of the EPA and Loudoun County government. 

Feasibility Study

Community Meeting

On June 15, 2017, county staff facilitated a community meeting in Broad Run Farms to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency’s progress toward completion of the feasibility study, and several potential options that may be included in the proposed plan for remediation. The presentation made by EPA Project Manager Bruce Rundell can be found below:

EPA Final Remedial Investigation Report

In May 2016, the EPA released its Final Remedial Investigation Report regarding the Hidden Lane Landfill. Loudoun County contracted with Dr. Mark Widdowson of Virginia Tech to provide technical assistance to the county, which included reviewing the work and work products of the EPA.

Public Meeting Held November 2015

The EPA held a public meeting to update the community on groundwater treatment testing, the feasibility study and what’s next at the Hidden Lane Landfill site. 

EPA Updates Community 2014

The EPA held an open house in June 2014 on the Hidden Lane Landfill Superfund Site. Region Three EPA Representative Fred MacMillan and Loudoun County staff were on hand to answer questions and explain the progress to attendees. The EPA has taken the lead at the site and continues to work with the county and the state to resolve the environmental and health risks at the site. 

Background on the Hidden Lane Landfill

The Hidden Lane Landfill was a 25-acre privately owned and operated disposal facility north of Route 7 between the Broad Run Farms and Countryside communities. The Hidden Lane Landfill had been named by county and state health officials as the likely source of the degreasing solvent trichloroethlene (TCE), first detected in drinking water wells of some homes in the Broad Run Farms subdivision just west of the landfill in 1989. In 2008, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency added the Hidden Lane Landfill to the National Priorities List of most hazardous waste sites in 2008, making it eligible for funding from the federal Superfund cleanup program. The EPA has taken the lead at the site and continues to work with the county and the state to resolve the environmental and health risks at the site.

General Information

In response to what appeared to be a pattern of ground water contamination with trichloroethlene (TCE), the Loudoun County Health Department offered free well water testing to owners of properties in the eastern part of Broad Run Farms. Of the 81 properties that took advantage of this free testing or shared their private test results, a total of 32 wells showed some level of contamination with TCE, with 17 at or above the EPA’s maximum contaminant level of greater than 5 milligrams per liter. The contaminated wells are in the easternmost part of Broad Run Farms, either just adjacent to or north of Hidden Lane landfill, a privately-operated landfill which has not accepted waste materials for disposal since 1985. The owners of all the tested wells have been notified of their results, whether or not they showed evidence of contamination. Importantly, these results represent just a point-in-time determination of well water contamination.

Based on these test results, the Health Department strongly recommends that properties on both sides of Red Rose Drive as well as those in the easternmost part of Youngs Cliff Road install whole house filtration systems effective at removing TCE. Since there is no way to predict how the contamination pattern might change over time, the Health Department is asking all residents in the testing area to consider installing a whole house water filtration device. This would be a conservative measure to protect those residents with even the slightest risk of well water contamination from TCE This encompasses an area north of Persimmon Lane, east of Dairy and Bobwhite Lanes, and the eastern portion of Youngs Cliff Road.

Superfund Designation Information

The Hidden Lane landfill is a part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities (Superfund) List (NPL). More information about the addition of the site to the Superfund program is available online from the EPA.

For more information on TCE, call the Loudoun County Health Department drinking water information line at 703-771-5512 or send an email to the Health Department. You can also directly email the EPA. A map (PDF), which includes the testing area and the test results, is available online. It requires the free Adobe Reader.