Newtown is a small cluster of homes a couple miles from Crozet in western Albemarle County. At one point, Newtown had a school, a community center, a church, and a general store. It was also home to Greenwood Chemical Company, where a 1985 explosion killed four workers and stunned the community. The land became a Superfund site, and soon Albemarle County will try to auction it off to the highest bidder. WMRA’s Christine Kueter continues the story.
When Greenwood Chemical president Al Cereghino closed his plant after an explosion left four men dead and community members shaken and grieving, it was clear the gig was up.
Antoine Sims lived with his family next door.
ANTOINE SIMS: They’d had fires before. They’d had, like, the smaller ones that really didn’t go as far. That was moreso the talk, like, “Yep, they finally blew it up, didn’t they? Mmhm.” Just kind of like, “Yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be anything going on back in there.”…