Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411150032
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHIREEN I. PARSONS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
According to DEQ files in all three of its divisions - waste, water and air - Virginia Tech has been, and still is, in violation of numerous environmental regulations. For example:
A 1991 inspection found improper treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. It took until 1993 to formulate a hazardous-waste compliance agreement, and compliance still has not been accomplished. DEQ could seek criminal prosecution for this continued violation.
The university owns a large number of unpermitted underground petroleum storage tanks that have not been tested for leaks. Reportedly, at some of these sites, leaks are apparent at the surface of the ground.
At the power plant, for which Tech is seeking a permit to build a new coal-fired boiler, the coal pile leachate failed a DEQ toxicity analysis and continues to be discharged into Stroubles Creek. Adding insult to injury, the coal pile itself sits directly atop a spring, and is thereby a constant source of groundwater contamination. Yet Tech is asking for a permit for a new boiler that would mean a huge increase in the size of the coal pile.
The most dramatic violation involves the Tech dairy farm. Last February, DEQ received an anonymous report (including photographs) that untreated cow manure was being pumped from the primary lagoon of Tech's two-lagoon manure treatment system directly into a tributary of Stroubles Creek. Additional evidence is a videotape made by a member of DEQ's staff. This violation occurred for at least two weeks, and I think we can assume the only reason it didn't continue is that DEQ intervened.
Compounding this violation is the fact that DEQ discovered that sanitary waste from 10 restrooms at farm facilities is illegally discharged into the manure lagoon. According to DEQ figures, this amounts to about 21 tons of manure and 850 gallons of restroom wastewater per day. Tech's excuse for this was that the lagoon was full.
Tech has not been prosecuted for willful discharge of pollutants into state waters; instead, the university is permitted to apply this solution of animal and human wastes to agricultural fields. Compare this to the case of Walter Winkle, the Montgomery County dairy farmer whose accidental discharge of manure into Elliot Creek caused a fish kill a few years ago. Winkle was held up to public scrutiny by the newspapers and the electronic media, and was fined $50,000; Virginia Tech received no media coverage and no fine.
The purpose of environmental regulations is to protect the environment and the public, and the public deserves to be informed of gross violations of these regulations, particularly when a violator is an institution supported by our tax dollars. The public also has a right to expect uniform enforcement of these regulations and fairness in assigning penalties for violations. Where is the justice in fining a farmer $50,000 for an accidental violation and ignoring an intentional violation by a state agency? If this is state policy, it needs to be re-evaluated. Virginia Tech, the state's premier engineering and agricultural university, should at least be held to the same standard as individuals and other institutions, and should be held accountable for violations.
Before granting Tech's application for a permit for a new coal-fired boiler, DEQ should consider the university's demonstrated willful disregard for environmental regulations and lack of responsibility to the environment and the community. The permit should provide for frequent inspection and tamper-proof monitoring of the power plant by DEQ, and the consequences for violations should be clearly stated. The public deserves absolute assurance that regulations regarding power-plant discharges to the air and water will be strictly enforced.
There are those in the current state administration who tell us that environmental regulations are unnecessary. They say individuals, businesses and other institutions should be self-monitoring, and can be trusted to conduct themselves in an environmentally responsible manner. The situation described here illustrates the preposterousness of that idea.
DEQ needs to be empowered to enforce existing regulations that protect the environment and the public.
Shireen I. Parsons of Riner is chairwoman of the Sierra Club New River Group.
by CNB