Weekly Column: General Assembly’s Ongoing Efforts to Protect Air Quality

The following is my column that will appear in this week's Mt. Vernon Gazette in the week of July 20, 2024.  

General Assembly’s Ongoing Efforts to Protect Air Quality

By Senator Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon)

Protecting Virginia’s air quality by reducing greenhouse gases has been a priority of mine since I was first elected to the General Assembly in 2009. This year, both the House and the Senate took steps to address this issue.

However, Governor Youngkin exercised his power to veto some of our actions. Does that mean that Virginia will be stymied in reducing greenhouse gases for the next two years?

No. The General Assembly has considerable power to continue to move policy initiatives. Here’s a description of how that played out in the back-and-forth of the 2024 legislative session.

Metro Shutdown Begins Saturday

This summer, Metro will shut down all six stations south of DCA. This work is the result of dedicated funding I supported in the 2019 budget. Metro will be providing shuttle bus services. Please find information below from Metro, VDOT, and the Washington Area Bicycling Association about transportation alternatives including bicycle and bus services.

2019 Platform Improvement Project Activities

Metro's contractor will work concurrently at all six stations south of National Airport in summer 2019 to expedite construction and ensure the stations are ready to reopen for customers after September 8.

Little Hunting Creek Cleanup 2013!

It's 2013 and it's time again!  On Saturday, April 6, 2013, the Alice Ferguson Foundation is hosting it's 25th Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup!

RSVP NOW BELOW!

Once again, we are back to Little Hunting Creek and this time we are back in force!  My preliminary investigation of the creek has located at least a dozen shopping carts and thousands of bottles, cans and bags along with the usual assortment of bike and other trash. Last year we over 90 volunteers cleared the following from just 1/2 mile of creek:

• 139 Shopping Carts
• 120 bags of trash
• Nearly two dozen tires
• Over a Dozen Bikes
• A Tractor Tire, Mattress, Barbells, stereos, paint cans, car bumpers, statues, picnic tables, animal houses, chairs, wheelbarrows, DVD's, vacuums, tools
• Thousands of pieces of styrofoam and plastic food containers, plastic bags and beverage containers

I even made a video you can watch here:

Delegate Scott Surovell's Little Hunting Creek Cleanups
 

Airborne Mercury & Mt. Vernon's Fish

Pollution control on power plants has come a long way in the last 30 years. 

I've spent my summers in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York since I was born.  We stay at a house on a large nine mile lake called Schroon Lake.  I've hiked over twenty-nine of the Adirondack's High Peaks and dozens of smaller mountains.  When I was younger, the tops of mountains and all of the trees would be dying.  Many ponds had no fish because if acidification. 

In the 1980's, the steel industry and utilities were targeted for sulfur dioxide emissions. They were causing acid rain.  The government imposed new standards and industry put pollution controls in place.  Today, acid rain is an afterthought, the moutain tops are recovering and ecosystems are replenishing.

However, other pollution problems have become apparent.