[va-richmond-general] Trashing the James
- From: Larry R Lynch <birder6@xxxxxxxx>
- To: VA-Richmond-General@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 18:40:56 -0400
<< forwarded by Larry Lynch birder6@xxxxxxxx>>
TRASHING THE JAMES
Contact: James River Association, Patti Jackson,
pjackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For several years now, the issue of barging
out-of-state garbage up the James River has loomed
over the landowners and users of this historic river.
Although the James has long been a highway for
commerce of goods, including oil, chemicals, raw
materials and finished products, nothing has elicited
as much debate and acrimony as the shipment of other
states waste to Virginia.
There are several factors in play. The previous
Governor and the General Assembly did try to ban the
shipment of wastes up our rivers, only to be
overturned by the Supreme Court invoking violation of
the interstate commerce clause. Similarly, members of
Virginias Congressional delegation have tried to get
a bill considered in Congress to give states more
control over out-of-state waste, but others have
prevented such bills from being heard or coming to a
vote.
State legislation initiated by the James River
Association and passed by the General Assembly
requires the regulation of garbage barges, containers,
and receiving facilities, as well as fees to cover the
cost of the regulatory program. This legislation
resulted in the unanimous adoption of strict
regulations in December of 2000 by the State Waste
Management Board. Unfortunately, these regulations
were suspended in March 2001 due to court challenges
and objections.
Since the court ruling, a settlement has been reached
between the Commonwealth and Waste Management, Inc.,
some changes have been made to the law, and revised
regulations have been presented to the State Waste
Management Board. The revised regulations include two
sections whose implementation has been suspended,
pending further public comment. One section changes
the requirements for the garbage containers to a
performance standard. Instead of the previous
regulation that described the pressure test necessary
to determine if the containers were watertight, as
required by law, the owner can make his own
determination if the containers are watertight. This
performance standard means that we will not know if
the containers are watertight until they fall in the
river, and it will be too late. This is the fox
guarding the henhouse.
The other suspended section implements an additional
fee, as allowed by law, for protection of the river
and for other waste-related programs. The draft
regulation proposes a minuscule fee of $1 per ton of
waste. This is an arbitrary figure that is not based
at all on the potential cost of protecting the James
from garbage pollution, or the cost of cleaning up
waste problems. The proposed fee is particularly low,
since other states charge a tipping fee for waste
disposal of over $7 per ton. By keeping this fee
arbitrarily low, along with the cheaper cost of
barging waste instead of trucking it, there will
actually be a financial incentive to ship more
out-of-state waste to Virginia by barge.
It seems ironic that the Commonwealth would spend
millions of dollars to promote the 400th Anniversary
of the settlement of Jamestown in 2007, only to have
visitors greeted by garbage barges traveling along its
shores. The State should do everything possible to
prevent waste from spoiling the historic events
surrounding Jamestown and the rest of Virginia that
will be welcoming the world to visit. The best way to
do this is to strictly regulate garbage containers and
to charge a fee that will truly protect the river.
Although the only current garbage barge facility is on
the James River, other rivers with nearby landfills
will be just as vulnerable, especially if the state
provides financial incentives to ship more waste by
barge to Virginia. All citizens should be concerned
about the potential impacts of these regulations.
Public meetings will be held on June 10 at 7:30 p.m.
at the Charles City Government and School Board
Administrative Building, Auditorium, 10900 Courthouse
Road, Charles City, VA, and on June 11 at 7:00 p.m. at
the Rappahannock Community College Warsaw Campus,
Lecture Hall, 52 Campus Drive, Warsaw, VA to receive
public comments, and written comments will be received
until 5:00 p.m. on June 18. The contact person is
John Ely, Department of Environmental Quality, FAX
(804) 698-4327 or jeely@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Citizens should speak out about the need for
protective garbage containers that are proven to be
watertight before they enter Virginias historic
rivers, and for fees that will adequately cover the
costs for protecting state waters and cleaning up
waste problems. Come to the public meetings, send
letters or emails, and let your voice be heard.
=====
Ellen Shepard
Virginia Conservation Network
1001 East Broad Street, Suite LL35-C
Richmond, VA 23219
804-644-0283 (Richmond) 540-362-3538 (Roanoke)ellenshepard@xxxxxxxxx
www.vcnva.org
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