A Thanksgiving recipe

Cocaine and estrogen from birth control pills are not eliminated by sewage treatment. We are dosing the fish and other critters in Bull Run and Neabsco Creek with all sorts of drugs.  Male bass sampled in the upper Potomac River are producing eggs, demonstrating that the pollutants are affecting wildlife.

Now it turns out that we can identify the holidays by when we see an increase in the residue of spices and flavorings in our wastewater.

“[T]hyme and sage spike during Thanksgiving, cinnamon surges all winter, chocolate and vanilla show up during weekends (presumably from party-related goodies), and waffle-cone and caramel-corn remnants skyrocket around the Fourth of July,” according to a new study described at National Geographic News.

Ever ask a cook for a recipe, or inquire about ingredients for an unfamiliar dish at a restaurant?  Knowing how something is made adds a little extra “something.”

Comparable knowledge can be a useful thing when looking at the Occoquan Reservoir (downstream from the regional sewage treatment plant near Centreville) and the Potomac River (downstream from the Dale City and Mooney treatment plants on Neabsco Creek, and numerous other wastewater facilities at Lorton, Alexandria, and all the way upstream to Staunton).

Do the math before the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Meeting in Northern Virginia – December 14

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding public meetings on its development of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay.

EPA is on the “get ‘er done” track, after years of dilly-dallying.  There’s a new sheriff in town, with Obama’s EPA.  By a consent decree with a Federal court, the TMDL will be finalized no later than May 1, 2011.  (EPA is shooting for December, 2010.)

A draft TMDL and accompanying draft implementation plans are scheduled to be prepared by August 2010. Allocations of nitrogen and phosphorous levels have already been identified for the Potomac River.  At the moment, those allocations are non-binding.

Look at the numbers in an article in the Bay Journal of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.  It’s already obvious that Prince William County and other pollution contributors will have to cut (reduce, lower, shrink…) current levels of pollution.

If  we expect to add another 120,000 more people by 2025… we gotta reduce pollution/per capita.  Significantly.  We can’t continue business as usual and meet the Federal mandate.  Prince William can grow, but we gotta build differently to accommodate projected growth.

Mark your calendar – the Northern Virginia meeting will be on December 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Falls Church High School, Little Theater, 7521 Jaguar Trail, Falls Church, VA 22042.

Will the supervisors imitate ostriches? Will the pavers pay, or will the taxpayers get stuck with the bill?

The Federal Clean Water Act limits pollution from”point sources” such as sewage plants and factories.   The 19 point sources in Prince William County with Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, including the wastewater treatment plants and the Possum Point Power Station, meet the requirements of the law.

In addition to point sources, the law limits pollution from “non-point” sources – primarily stormwater runoff from agricultural fields and the impervious surfaces of cities and suburbs. The remaining farmers and the horse owners in Prince William are using state/Federal grants to fence pastures away from creeks, moving animals and their manure away from the water.

Soon, it will be time to control the stormwater from development, old and new.

The EPA and a Federal court have mandated that polluters of the Chesapeake Bay must clean up their act.  Now it’s time for Prince William officials to demonstrate if they are ostriches with their head in the sand, or are looking down the road to minimize future taxes on local voters.

Don’t blame the farmers. You should blame…

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Fact Sheet on Chesapeake Bay Water Quality,  “runoff from urban and suburban lands is the one source of pollution that is increasing.”

With the help of the Cooperative Extension program and with state/Federal grants, many of Prince William’s farmers and horse owners are implementing Best Management Practices to minimize water pollution.  We have a long way to go before we reduce nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment enough to meet Federal Clean Water Act standards, but the farmers are moving in the right direction.

As for the home builders and developers in Prince William… well, that’s a different story.

EPA and Federal courts get serious about water clean-up. If you’re assuming “business as usual” is good enough… be afraid, be very afraid

In November 2008, a Federal judge ruled that Florida had failed to meet requirements of the Clean Water Act.  In January 2009, the Bush Administration agreed to comply with the court order to set numeric (i.e., measurable) water quality standards for phosphorous and nitrogen in Florida’s surface waters.

Now, over opposition by state officials, “The federal government will attempt to set Florida’s water pollution standards — the first time it’ll try that for any state…”

There’s a similar legal mandate, based on a separate consent decree, for EPA to establish limits on the pollution allowed in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  We’re next – 100% of Prince William County is in that watershed.

Since 1983, Virginia and other states have been claiming that one day, one day soon, just give us more time… we’ll change our ways, reduce pollution despite population growth, and Save the Bay.  Just as in Florida, that game is over.  In 2008, the bay met only 21 percent of the water quality goals established in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.

The hammer falls in a year, starting with a draft “TMDL” allocation in August, 2010.

Tunnel Vision (and Avendale too)

You may have noticed the headlines – the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is running out of money.  On November 16, The Virginian-Pilot reported on the latest road projects to be cut from the state’s Six Year Plan.

In the story, a Virginia Beach official is quoted as saying Ten years from now we’re going to look back on this period and say ‘What were we thinking? Why didn’t we have a long-range funding plan?’

Maybe that official has been staring too long at proposals for new underwater crossings at Hampton Roads, but he’s sure got tunnel vision.  You don’t need to wait 10 more years.  There is a long-range funding plan.

County starts on journey to designate Urban Development Area(s)

On Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors will approve a request for funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  The grant will help Prince William update its Comprehensive Plan, to designate at least one Urban Development Area (UDA).  UDA’s are defined as “areas of reasonably compact development that can accommodate 10 to 20 years of projected growth and incorporate the principles of new urbanism and traditional neighborhood design.”

The 2007 General Assembly recognized that sprawling development in high-growth counties creates lots of extra roads, and that VDOT gets stuck with ever-increasing maintenance costs for those roads.  The legislature mandated in 2007 that high-growth counties must identify at least one place for high density development.   (Have you heard?  VDOT is running out of money…) The state’s logic: encourage more people to live in one place, so we build fewer roads and save money.

If Prince William receives the grant, our eight elected supervisors will have to determine what “center(s)” should be designated as Urban Development Area(s) by no later than 2012.  The Planning Department has suggested 5 specific locations.

Another opportunity for new funding to conserve lands in PW County

The Capper Crampton Act of 1930 was passed in response to Corps of Engineers plans to build two dams on the Potomac River, at Chain Bridge and above Great Falls.  Instead of flooding the river valley, the Federal government established the National Capital Planning Commission and purchased land to protect the Potomac River.  Protection of Great Falls and the scenic vistas along the George Washington Parkway and Rock Creek Parkway are legacies of that bill.

Now local legislators, led by Jim Moran and including Frank Wolf, Gerry Connolly, and Rob Wittman, have proposed to build on that success.  The National Capital Region Land Conservation Act (HR 2986/S1525) would authorize Congressional appropriations (up to $50 million per year) for grants to State, regional and local governments. Grants would have to be matched, and the Federal funding would help obtain land for conservation, environmental and recreational purposes.

Various conservation groups have already expressed support for the bill.  Now it’s time for local legislators to speak up.  Getting a Federal match could help Prince William County double the value of the $3 million in park bonds that we passed in 2006 for land acquisition.

How Virginia can raise new funds, to cover some costs of soon-to-arrive “Save the Bay” mandates

Virginia imports more trash from outside its boundaries than any state except Pennsylvania.  We are literally the dumping ground for New York City garbage, as well as trash from Maryland and DC.  In addition, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission reports that Virginians produce more municipal solid waste per capita than the national average.

Wanna cut down on waste?  Let’s use the Business 101 approach – provide a financial incentive to reduce, reuse, recycle.  Add a “surcharge” to the fee for dumping trash in any Virginia landfill in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Finally complying with the Federal Clean Water Act requirements, to stop polluting the Chesapeake Bay, will not be cheap.  We’ll need new $$$.  Let’s dedicate the new funding from a solid waste disposal surcharge to projects that will Save the Bay.

EPA starts ratcheting up the “Save the Bay” requirements; you don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing…

The Chesapeake Bay is polluted because places like Prince William County pour pollution into our local streams, and those streams then flow into the Chesapeake Bay.  The obvious way to “Save the Bay” is to clean up the tributaries.

If we keep sending pollution downstream, we keep poisoning the bay.  If we stop overloading the bay with nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment, it may recover.  To stop, we need to change our “business as usual” approach to development.

The current administration is moving past empty promises and towards performance measures, rattling sabers to ensure the bay gets clean enough to meet the 1972 Federal Clean Water Act requirements.  The jurisdictions that do not clean up their act – literally – risk losing Federal funding for transportation.

Prince William is at risk of having $$$ for new roads, transit, and ferry proposals redirected, by Federal threat or court order, so we reduce the pollution that we send downstream.