Archive for the ‘Stormwater’ Category
Who has a permit to pollute in Prince William?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a Permit Compliance System database of the specific locations (“point sources”) where permits have been issued for polluting the creeks and rivers in Prince William.
Currently, 23 sites in Prince William County have National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits in the EPA database. There are details for each point source, such as the permit for the H. L. Mooney Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Making such details available is a model that Prince William should follow for its stormwater pollution controls.
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EPA on Chesapeake Bay cleanup: talk like Reagan, walk like Teddy Roosevelt
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on an end-of-year tour of Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions, alerting everyone that this time they are serious about saving the Bay. They passed through Northern Virginia on December 14, briefing government officials in the afternoon and holding a public session in the evening at Falls Church.
A series of state/Federal commitments since 1983 have suggested we would save the bay by 2000, then by 2010… The latest proposal is to require that all the necessary action items to clean up the water must be in operation by 2025.
Why should we believe this time that anything is different? Will EPA under Obama be any different than EPA under the Bushes, Clinton, or Reagan? Are Federal threats of “consequences,” if states fail to curb pollution, for real?
Will the Feds contribute $$$ to the Chesapeake Bay clean-up?
In an ideal world, Congress would cut Federal funding and balance the budget. Holding your breath?
Until then, Northern Virginia could be outrageously righteous, and decline new Federal funding for various initiatives. In the economic battles with other regions of the state and nation, we could declare unilateral disarmament.
The alternative is to push for “our share” of the Federal budget, and to use it wisely. One of the best opportunities: H.R. 3852, the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009.
It reauthorizes the Chesapeake Bay Program, and establishes a legislative mandate for the Executive Branch’s commitment to enforce the Clean Water Act (finally). The bill focuses corrective actions on stormwater runoff, as well as wastewater treatment plants and agricultural pollution – and authorizes $1.5 billion in new grants.
Hey, if we’re gonna spend ourselves into massive inflation, let’s buy something worthwhile: a Chesapeake Bay that is fishable, swimmable, and fully supports aquatic life.
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 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.
“When you’re in a hole – quit digging”
New housing, new strip malls, and other new development creates more impervious surfaces. When it rains, new development generates more stormwater runoff, our streams get etched deeper, and we send sediment downstream to smother plants, fish, oysters, crabs…
In contrast, redevelopment of existing sites, such as the parking lots along Route 1 and at Potomac Mills, gives us a chance to minimize stormwater runoff.
Low-tax conservatives and “smart growth” planners agree: we need to focus new growth on redevelopment, and stop paving over the fields and forests. Soon, the Federal government will get off the sidelines, and help shape the local decisions on where to develop vs. what to conserve.
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Erosion controls – one size doesn’t fit all
While going through my computer looking for a picture, I came across one of my favorite Silt Fence Photos. This one, taken in March 2005, is from the South Market development site, on the west side of Route 15 south of Haymarket.
This particular silt fence was installed along the edge of a road project in an area that was not identified as a Jurisdictional Wetland, which means no wetland permits or mitigation were required.
These inexpensive, plastic fences are the most common erosion control seen at local development sites, regardless of site conditions. The one shown in the photo isn’t doing much of anything but, even when they’re correctly installed and in the right place, silt fences have limited value.
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We’ll know on September 10 – will Lucy move the ball again, when Charlie Brown tries to kick it?
For decades, Federal, state, and local officials have promised to “Save the Chesapeake Bay.” Six months ago, the latest president signed yet another Executive Order to determine what to do.
Maybe we’ll see more studies-on-a-shelf and more hand-wringing. Maybe we’ll see another delaying exercise that avoids the tough, expensive decisions that are required, if we expect to have any real impact. Maybe we’ll see yet another list of “specific programs and strategies to be implemented’ – someday, far far in the future.
Then officials at all levels can say we’re working on it, while we continue business as usual. If so, everyone can keep poisoning the bay gradually, with excessive sediment carried by urban/suburban stormwater, agricultural runoff loaded with excessive phosphorous, and so much wastewater that even the small amount of permitted nitrogen will still fertilize algal blooms.
Or maybe, just maybe, there’s a recognition now that we’ve reached the limit; our streams and the bay can’t absorb more pollution without degrading significantly. After we see the Federal agency reports due on September 9, we’ll have a clue about this Administration’s Executive Order will make a difference. When we see the regulations adopted and the money appropriated to implement the policies, we’ll know if times have changed.
Maybe Lucy won’t pull the ball away. Maybe Charlie Brown gets to kick it this year, and we see action strategies that gore oxen, upset various interest groups, and trigger changes in the same ‘ol-same ‘ol business as usual. If the reports based on the Executive Order have substance, then we can start to play ball on cleaning up the streams in Prince William and every other jurisdiction, and start to restore the health of the Potomac River and the Bay.
Environment Chapter of Comprehensive Plan – Why Bother?
The Planning Commission kicked off its rewrite of yet another Comp Plan chapter on June 24. Submit your ideas to PCFeedback@pwcgov.org early and often.
Because the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) kicked off a round of community meetings to gather yet more input on the land use and transportation chapters already approved by the Planning Commission, a new Environment Chapter draft will be ready for BOCS action at roughly the same time as land use and transportation chapters. We’re (eek!) at risk of adopting consistent guidance.
Why should anyone care about the Environment Chapter? Well…
