Hanover preps for 15-year stormwater plan

Hanover County:

“As part of a federal, state and local government coordinated effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Hanover County Director of Public Works J. Michael Flagg will oversee a 15-year plan to reduce phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment in stormwater runoff to the bay. The reductions are required by new permit standards for stormwater management for the county. The standards go beyond stormwater system maintenance, which includes keeping the stormwater drainage infrastructure from erosion and enforcing regulations that prevent individuals and businesses from dumping hazardous liquids such as cooking oil into the drainage system.

Flagg said the county plans to restore and repair stream banks to reduce erosion, which increases nutrients and sediments in the runoff. Streams with steep banks increase the speed and volume of the runoff. By making the banks flatter, the county can reduce pollutant flow. Other measures include pond modifications that collect runoff water and hold and treat it in the pond.”

~Writes Cindy Huang of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Fracking worries arise at conservation forum in city

Virginia Outdoors Foundation:

“The purpose of a Virginia Outdoors Foundation-sponsored forum in Fredericksburg last week was to look at whether oil and gas drilling should be allowed on land protected from other development by conservation easements. But looming over the five-hour session Thursday was the prospect of hydraulic fracturing coming to the Taylorsville basin south and east of Fredericksburg. Some conservation easements in the basin already allow drilling.”

~Writes Rusty Dennen of The Free Lance-Star

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Input on James River pollution study sought

James River:

“With 19 sections of the James River and its tributaries observed to be violating legal bacteria levels, the Department of Environmental Quality is asking for public comment in redeveloping a study on sources of pollution. The DEQ in conjunction with Region 2000, held a public meeting Tuesday night at Randolph College to present the study’s preliminary findings, which examined sections of streams and the James River from which they stem.

Violations were found in water bodies in Amherst, Bedford and Campbell counties and Lynchburg as well as the James. The total maximum daily load study, which examines the amount of bacteria a body of water can handle to meet standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency was last completed in 2007. It is being redeveloped by request from Lynchburg so the city can update its own combined sewer overflows strategy.

Jim Kern, who spoke for MapTech Inc., the company performing the study, said streams were examined as representative of general watersheds in the area. One impairment evidences pollution in another, he said. The TMDL study includes estimates of farm, domestic and wild animals, and people because fecal matter is the main source of E. coli. It also lists discharges that have been permitted.”

~Writes Alex Rohr of the News Advance

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Hazmat team finds coal ash in Dan River in Va

City of Danville:

“A Virginia hazardous materials unit has found coal ash in the Dan River in Virginia from the massive spill last month. The unit of the Danville Fire Department responded to a call of an unusual substance in the water Wednesday afternoon. Tests determined the substance to be coal ash.

Officials say they believe the coal ash was stirred up from the bottom of the river due to the higher water flow from the recent rain and snow. There have been no visible signs of coal ash entering the area water treatment plant. Tests show water leaving the plant is clean and safe to drink. A massive spill from a Duke Energy facility in North Carolina on Feb. 2 coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic gray sludge.”

~Writes the Associated Press, sited in The Washington Post

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Record water pollution fines sought for coal mine operators in states including Va.

Appalachia:

“The Obama administration is proposing a record fine for thousands of water pollution violations by coal mine operators in five Appalachian states. Alpha Natural Resources Inc., the nation's third-largest coal supplier, will pay a $27.5 million fine and spend $200 million to reduce illegal toxic discharges from 79 mines and 25 coal processing facilities in West Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky.

The deal, which marks the largest fine ever for violations of water pollution limits, was filed in federal court Wednesday. It comes after a series of coal-related spills in West Virginia and North Carolina have raised questions about whether state and federal environmental officials are doing enough to curb water pollution from companies mining, processing, transporting and burning coal. Advocacy groups said that environmental officials should do more to prevent pollution from entering waterways.

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department characterized the deal as historic and said the fine was large enough to deter others in the coal industry from flouting the law. But advocacy groups said state and federal authorities needed to do more to prevent the pollution from occurring in the first place. Environmental groups have filed lawsuits in several states to enforce the law in situations where they have felt the state and federal government have fallen short. In West Virginia, lawmakers and the governor have tried to thwart those efforts with legislation.”

~Writes Dina Cappiello of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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