Eternal vigilance needed to protect our water supply, streams & rivers (Angie Rosser of WV Rivers Coalition)

Submitted by Julie Archer, League of Women Voters of West Virginia, July, 17, 2021

We’re sharing this important Action Alert from our friends at the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

A recent a policy decision by the WVDEP related to water quality standards creates a loophole to allow industries to dump more toxins in our source water.

This proposal is part of a second round of human health criteria revisions – the portion of our water quality standards that protects our health from dangerous pollutants like cancer causing toxins, chemicals known to cause birth-defects, and poisons like cyanide.

Submit comments on the proposal today! [1]

This policy is dangerous for West Virginia. Not only will it allow more toxins in our drinking water sources, it creates a shortcut for polluters to allow EVEN MORE toxins in our water with less public
involvement.

Ways this policy puts our health and our water at risk:

* The proposal creates a loophole for industry to further weaken the
human health criteria on a case-by-case basis if industry funds a study
that sways the WVDEP to decide that water and fish can handle more
toxins.
* This is handout to big corporations, who can afford the studies.
Hint: chemical manufacturers asked for this loophole, so we are pretty
sure they can afford these studies and are confident they believe they
can demonstrate results in their favor.
* There is already a process in place to revise water quality
standards. The revision sidesteps that procedure by creating a shortcut
that reduces scrutiny and public input in decision-making.
* The loophole exacerbates environmental justice issues by allowing
more toxins in waters near industrialized areas, which are often poorer
communities that are already struggling with problems related to social,
economic, and environmental justice.
* On top of all these factors, it’s just plain old bad policy. It’s_
_vague and sets a precedent for further weakening of water quality
standards statewide.

This is an all hand on deck call to action!

You can submit comments on the proposal through July 19 here [1]. It’s important for the WVDEP to hear personalized responses from commenters. Think about how the policy change would affect you and your loved ones
personally.

In addition to submitting written comments, please plan to join the virtual public hearing on the proposal on July 19 at 6:00PM [2].

See the Links:
——
[1] https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/hhc2021/index.html

[2] https://dep.wv.gov/events/Pages/event.aspx?eventid=363

Protect Our National Forests

The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition has filed a request with VA Gov. McAuliffe for documents on the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines

Letter by Rick Webb, Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, December 10, 2015

The request, filed under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), asks for all pipeline-related documents in the Governor’s Office that have been sent between Virginia state agencies and the Governor’s office and any sent between companies associated with the two pipeline proposals and the Governor. (see DPMC FOIA Request, 11/9/15)

The Roanoke Times recently reported that Governor McAuliffe “wants state agencies to brief his office before department employees comment publicly” about the natural gas pipeline projects (see November 2015 article). That report sparked citizen concerns that essential findings and opinions from scientific and regulatory experts in Virginia government may not reach the public or may be changed before release. The fact that the Governor joined Dominion Power officials to tout the Atlantic Coast Pipeline before any State environmental or safety reviews could be begun, let alone be completed, heightened these citizen concerns.

David Sligh, a Senior Regulatory Systems Investigator with DPMC, who filed the request with Governor McAuliffe, wrote “[w]e and the many thousands of individuals, along with numerous organizations and local government bodies who have serious concerns about the ways these pipelines would affect communities and the environment depend on you to protect our interests but also accept the responsibility to be vigilant and involved actors in public decisional processes. We know that you support our rights to do so and trust you will act to allow us to exercise those rights.”

The Virginia General Assembly, in enacting the FOIA, wrote that “[t]he affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government” and they stated a goal “to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities and afford every opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of government.”

If provided the information requested, DPMC will use it to play our proper role in our government and will make it available to our fellow Virginians. We ask now that the Governor work with us to “promote an increased awareness” in the State’s activities related to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

We ask the Governor to provide access to all of the requested information, and to live up to commitments he made before taking office. As Governor-elect, Mr. McAuliffe pledged to set “a new standard of ‘transparent, accountable, state government that is beholden only to the taxpayers who fund it . . . . Virginians should never have to question who their leaders are putting first.”

Rick Webb, Coordinator, Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition

Contact: rwebb.dpmc@gmail.com

See also: http://pipelineupdate.org/