Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 30, 1992 TAG: 9201300408
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WEBLITE CASE HOW NOT TO CONTROL POLLUTION
WHEN IT TAKES a state government 20 years to act against a business accused of polluting the air, something is seriously wrong with the laws, the regulations or the regulators - or all of the above.True enough, Weblite of Botetourt County has agreed, at long last, to start obeying the law. In an accord between state and company attorneys, Weblite said recently it will build a new smokestack, control its dust, monitor air pollutants, and give data that the state has long sought. (Under the circumstances, "demanded" somehow doesn't seem the right word.)
But the commonwealth can take little satisfaction in the outcome:
The state Department of Air Pollution Control has had complaints about Weblite since 1971.
The state has documented air-pollution violations at the plant since 1972.
At least since 1987, the plant has lacked a state permit for some of its equipment: "operating," as a state attorney put it, "outside the law."
Like the Kim-Stan landfill case in Alleghany County, the Weblite matter sends a message to other polluters and would-be polluters in Virginia: Delay. Even if you drag your feet, you'll stay at least a step ahead of the state. Sure, the state has its laws and regulations, but apparently it lacks the resources and/or the commitment to enforce them. Maybe the regulators will catch up eventually, but you'll have saved a pile of money you'd otherwise have invested in abating pollution.
Weblite's saying nothing publicly. When you negotiate an agreement like this one, you don't admit you've done wrong; you just say you won't do it anymore.
Still, the company will be making broad changes in a 40-year-old plant that Roger Chaffee, senior assistant attorney general, calls "outmoded and poorly maintained." The implication is that a lot of needed updating has been put off for many years. The environment and nearby residents have paid the price.
The Weblite story is a sorry chapter in the history of what passes for environmental-regulation enforcement in Virginia. It is an affront to all the companies and industries that conscientiously and routinely comply, often at great cost, with state rules.
It is also, from start to finish, a lesson for authorities in what not to do in controlling pollution and dealing with businesses that resort to dilatory tactics.