× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A federal lawsuit aimed at stopping Dominion Virginia Power’s plans to bury its coal ash in unlined pits could hinge on whether environmentalists can prove that arsenic detected in the Elizabeth River is directly linked to the utility’s now-closed coal plant in Chesapeake.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Sierra Club, argued Tuesday that arsenic and other metals leach into the groundwater and contaminate the nearby river. But lawyers for Dominion said the group has selectively used and misinterpreted some test results while ignoring others.

The lawsuit, to be decided by Judge John A. Gibney Jr., began Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Richmond and is scheduled to last eight days.

“The arsenic travels with the groundwater and discharges to the surface water,” Deborah Murray, an environmental law center lawyer, said in her opening statement. “The only way to stop this pollution is to remove the source of the pollution.”

Dominion testing in 2010 of water found in the pores of riverbed sediment revealed levels of arsenic that in some cases far exceed federal safety limits. In the law center’s view, that shows the arsenic is traveling with groundwater below the riverbed and up into the river.