Mantua, Virginia

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Mantua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Mantua is a bedroom community serving as a suburb to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Most of the homes in Mantua were built between the 1950s and the 1980s.Template:Citation needed The population was 7,503 at the 2020 census.<ref name="cdpquickfacts">Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

Mantua is located in central Fairfax County at Template:Coord (38.852012, −77.257675).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> It is bordered to the west by the city of Fairfax, to the north by Merrifield, to the east by Woodburn, to the southeast by Wakefield, and to the south by Long Branch. The northern border of the CDP follows U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard), the southern border follows Virginia State Route 236 (Little River Turnpike), and the eastern border follows Prosperity Avenue. The Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) is Template:Convert to the east, and downtown Washington is Template:Convert to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Mantua CDP has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert, or 0.91%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore</ref> Accotink Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, flows through the northern part of the CDP, and Crook Branch, a tributary of Accotink Creek, flows through the southern part.

History

Texaco oil leak

An oil distribution plant, located Template:Convert west of the community along Pickett Road in Fairfax City, was found in 1990 to have leaked approximately 200,000 gallons (approximately 4,700 barrels) of petroleum into Template:Convert of the soil and groundwater of the Crook Branch watershed.<ref name="epacleanup">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="epasb1998">Template:Cite report</ref>Template:Rp At the time, the distribution plant was owned in part by a subsidiary of Texaco.<ref name="epasb1998">Template:Cite report</ref>Template:Rp The oil leakage may have occurred over up to twenty-five years,<ref name="kyriakos">Template:Cite web</ref> as the distribution plant had opened in April 1965.<ref name="epacleanup"/><ref name="shuman">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Four families were evacuated,<ref name="kyriakos"/> and approximately 100 homes were connected to public water and sewer lines.<ref name="roanoketimes">Template:Cite news</ref> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed the installation of a "pump-and-treat" groundwater remediation system, which was augmented in 2000 by digging of horizontal infiltration wells, intended to wash contaminated groundwater into the remediation system.<ref name="epacleanup"/> Storm sewers in the area were checked for leaks and relining was performed to prevent further contamination of surface water.<ref name="epasb1998"/>Template:Rp By 2013, a four-year temporary shutdown test had shown that benzene and methyl tert-butyl ether vapor intrusion in homes directly above the contaminated groundwater plume calculated from sub-slab soil vapor sampling did not exceed the screening limit,<ref name="Fan2013">Template:Cite web</ref> and that groundwater contamination east of the distribution plant had fallen to levels controllable by natural degradation. The offsite remediation system was removed by 2016, but cleanup at the distribution plant is ongoing.<ref name="epacleanup"/> The oil distribution plant remains in operation as of 2023 using nine reinforced<ref name="epasb1998"/>Template:Rp<ref name="shuman"/>Template:Rp surface tanks,<ref name="epacleanup"/> despite objections that community members<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a task force appointed by Governor L. Douglas Wilder<ref name="roanoketimes"/> had raised at the time the leak was being investigated. All underground tanks have since been removed and piping for trucks to discharge oil residual into at the loading rack was installed in 1991:<ref name="epasb1998"/>Template:Rp both the underground tanks and the loading rack had been suspected sources of the leak.<ref name="roanoketimes"/> Groundwater in the Crook Branch watershed continues to be tested annually by the EPA and storm sewers are inspected for cracks.<ref name="Fan2013"/>

Demographics

Template:US Census population As of the 2010 census, there were 7,135 people, 2,628 households, and 1,936 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,031.0 people per square mile. There were 2,766 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the CDP was 73.5% White, 19.7% Asian, 2.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 6.2% of the population.<ref name="Census2010">Template:Cite web</ref>

The median age was 46.1 years. 25.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.3% was 18 to 24, 18.6% was 25 to 44, 31.7 was 45 to 64, and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the community was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.<ref name=Census2010/>

The median income for a household in the CDP was $112,008. About 3.8% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.2% of those 65 and older.<ref name=Census2010/>

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The Mantua/Frost/Woodson School Pyramid is highly desired. Mantua's former principal, Jan-Marie Fernandez, was awarded the "2010 National Distinguished Principal for Virginia" and Woodson HS is ranked #280 in U.S. News & World Report's National Rankings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The community is served by the Fairfax County Public Schools. Schools serving Mantua include:<ref name="MantuaSchools">"Schools Template:Webarchive." Mantua.</ref>

Elementary schools serving Mantua include:

Secondary schools serving Mantua include:

In addition, some Frost students may gain acceptance to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, often ranked in the top five high schools in America.