Over the last year, I have heard confusion regarding the interplay of Virginia's Living Shorelines Law and repairs or replacement of existing shoreline treatment.
Below is an 1984 Attorney General's Opinion explaining what constitutes repairs and maintenance versus construction of new facilities.
On Wednesday of this week, I cleared my trial calendar and headed to Richmond to vote for the bipartisan conference report on our $188 billion state budget. The compromise was a mixed bag. This week, I will write about some local priorities in the budget. Next week, I will write about the coming tax cuts and some of the broader investments that benefit the entire Commonwealth.
First, the Commonwealth’s current fiscal picture appears healthy but I have serious concerns that our excess revenues are largely driven by $5 Trillion of federal stimulus monies that have been pumped into our economy instead of solid underlying economic fundamentals. It is very dangerous to reset tax rates assuming revenues that could vanish when the stream of borrowed money fizzles out.
State Legislature Decides on Funds, Addresses Needs
On August 10, the General Assembly completed work in a special session to appropriate federal pandemic funds and elect judges.
In March, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). ARPA brought $4.3 billion in unexpected funds to Virginia but required it to be invested in specific areas such as water, sewer and broadband infrastructure to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, address pandemic impacts and provide government services suffering from revenue reductions because of the pandemic. Unlike other counties, Fairfax County received $222 million in direct ARPA funding with similar requirements.
Prompt Action and Cooperation Needed to Clean the Potomac RiverThis past week, the senior member of Virginia’s congressional delegation introduced legislation to remove the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to hold Virginia accountable for failing to clean up the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. People should be deeply disturbed. The Potomac provides drinking water to five million people.A Rich History
The Potomac River was once a bountiful asset and source of employment. In 1604, Captain John Smith wrote of fish so plentiful he could spear them with his sword, oysters that “lay as thick as stones” and schools of fish so plentiful that his men attempted to catch them with frying pans.
 |
| 2014 44th District Water Quality Map |
The Dixie Pig: Lee & Mt. Vernon's Streams & Rivers Are Polluted says VA DEQ (Apr. 3, 2012)
The Dixie Pig: No Progress - Creeks in the 44th District Still Polluted (Mar. 31, 2012)
Earlier this session, I cosponsored legislation that would put a $0.20 fee or tax on every disposable plastic bag. One of my constituents recently sent me some information that reminded me why I've been thinking about this.
This year, both the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River took a step backwards. The Potomac backslid from a C to a D and the Chesapeake went to a C-. It was both systems first decline in four years. The Potomac grade reversed because of severe storms and high streamflows during the spring and early summer resulting in significant sediment deposits flowing into the creeks. Every single indicator declined. Poor water quality, ruins biotic indicators which resultingly hurts our fisheries.
All of this underscores the importance of getting Virginia's stormwater management under control. I have written before on this blog about the quality of Mount Vernon's steams.
The Dixie Pig, Plastic Bags & Mt. Vernon's Watersheds (Nov. 18, 2010)The Dixie Pig, Cleaning Up Quander Brook (May 9, 2010)
Quander Brook is biologically dead. One neighbor calls it a natural toilet bowl because of the stormwater that hits it during rain events. Paul Spring has fewer fish in it than I remember as a kid. Little Hunting Creek and Dogue Creek are full of trash and you can barely see inches below the water surface.
During our last session, I also argued against hiding pollution data during the session, but we created a Freedom of Information Act exemption for compliance data provided provided by polluters.
Quander Brook runs from Beacon Hill and parallel's U.S. 1 near Belle Haven where it empties into Great Hunting Creek near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. During my campaign and during a trash cleanup I sponsored last Spring (See, The Dixie Pig, Cleaning Up Quander Brook), I was astonished by the number of plastic bags that were in Quander Creek.
They get caught on fallen limbs and tree roots and creating "trash dams" in the creeks themselves. Plastic bags make up much of the trash in Paul Spring, Little Hunting Creek, and Dogue Creek all of which run through the 44th District which has U.S. 1's and its retail outlets running through nearly all of its watersheds. This picture to the left is a plastic bag in the culvert next to 7-11 behind Hollin Hall Shopping Center that feeds into Paul Spring Branch.
Yesterday, I trekked into the woods with about twelve volunteers to help clean up a creek in my district called Quander Brook. There is a map of Quander Brook to the right. It starts as three streams originating from the Old Quander Farm (West Potomac High School), and two branches in the Fairview Neighborhood that join near the JPG Rosenfeld property (Chuck E. Cheese) and then parallels U.S. 1 down to Great Hunting Creek.This stream has a number of problems that this service project was useful to highlight:
The short version is that this creek parallels many restaurants and properties that do not control their trash. The forest behind these properties is littered with boxes, beverage containers, and food wrappers that all wash into the woods and eventually the creek. The 1950's-era storm water facilities also basically sweep up all kinds of trash from U.S. 1 and neighboring parking lots directly into the creek. When coupled with massive storm water flows, the creeks suffers from massive erosion problems caused by large water flows and "trash dams" that form in the creek. All of this eventually washes into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.
All of this leads to zero biodiversity. I did not see one bug, crawfish, fish, turtle, frog or any sign of life in this stream. The closest thing we found was a porcelain frog.
I will write a broader article for our local papers this week about it that I will post upon publication, but the problems with this property can be fixed through a number of issues.
The cleanup was a terrific success. We gathered two pickup trucks full of trash including 13 tires, a stereo, 3 tents, several blankets, a dryer top, a vacuum cleaner, a porcelain frog, about 1000 feet of "Caution Tape," and about 40 bags worth of plastic and beverage containers. Here are some pictures.
Thank you to JBG Rosenfeld for allowing us to access the property from their property and for providing us with a large dumpster for the trash and trash bags. Also thanks to community leaders Martin Tillett and David Dale who led our trek into the woods and gave us a tour of the property we did our work.
