In 1985, an explosion at a Newtown chemical plant killed four men in their 30s. Now, Albemarle County is searching for anyone with a claim on the 33-acre property, now a Superfund site, to pay back taxes by October 30, before the parcel is auctioned off. WMRA’s Christine Kueter reports in the first of a two-part story.
If you’re cruising Interstate 64 on Afton Mountain near the scenic view, or traveling 250 west of Charlottesville and spot three carved wooden bears in a roadside field, you’re pretty close to what’s left of the Greenwood Chemical Company.
It’s now a Superfund site and is expected to be auctioned off more than 40 years after an explosion killed four men, shuttered the plant, and traumatized the tiny community of Newtown, in western Albemarle County about a mile from Greenwood.
[excerpt from freestyle by T G’Sus, “Newtown, a history in song”]…