40 Million Pounds of Toxics Released in Virginia Every Year

toxic

by James A. Bacon

Virginia industries in 2011 discharged 19.9 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, 16.7 million pounds into the water and 2.5 million pounds onto the land — and almost all of it was legal. So concludes a new report from the Robert R. Merhige Jr. Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Richmond School of Law, “A Strategy to Protect Virginians from Toxic Chemicals.

Measured by the volume of toxic chemicals dumped into them, Virginia waterways are the second worst in the nation, says the report, written by professor Noah M. Sachs and third-year law student Ryan Murphy. The James River is the ninth worst waterway. The New River and Roanoke River are among the 20 worst waterways in the country. More than 277 different facilities in the state are legally permitted to discharge one or more toxic chemicals into the water.

Write the authors:

There are major gaps in the law, and Virginia lags behind other states in using state authority to address chemical risks. For example, Virginia lacks a comprehensive program to identify and clean up hundreds of contaminated sites in the Commonwealth that are not covered by the federal Superfund law. Moreover, current budgets for program and enforcement personnel are inadequate to enforce existing law, let alone the expanded protect program we recommend in this report. The toxics program at DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) is understaffed, with about thirty full-time employees devoted to implementing and enforcing toxic chemical laws and regulations for the entire Commonwealth. In comparison, we have found that North Carolina, a state with a population slightly larger than Virginia’s has around one hundred full-time employees implementing and enforcing toxic chemical laws and regulations.

“The central conclusion of this report is that the Commonwealth needs to use its own authority to fill gaps in federal law, step up enforcement, and protect Virginia’s citizens from toxic exposures.” The report calls for increased funding and personnel at DEQ, tougher penalties, stricter limits on toxic chemical releases and more focused attention on electric utilities and chemical manufacturers, among other measures.

Bacon’s bottom line: The UR study draws attention to a critical issue that does not get enough attention in Virginia. Global Warming is the celebrated environmental cause du jour and, in my mind, attracts far more attention and resources than it deserves. We have many other environmental challenges in Virginia. Some, like the Chesapeake Bay, generate ample publicity but others, such as the presence of toxic chemicals in the environment, may not get enough. By focusing the spotlight on toxics, the report makes an important contribution to the public discourse.

That said, I don’t think Noah (who happens to be a personal friend) and Ryan close the case for the massive regulatory overhaul they call for. For example, here is a chart published in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), omitted from the report, that tells a somewhat different story:

Source: Department of Environmental Quality. (Click for more legible image.)
Source: Department of Environmental Quality. (Click for more legible image.)

The existing regulatory regime cut the volume of toxic chemicals released into the air by more than half between 1998 and 2005. How much of that was due to DEQ action, federal regulatory initiatives or industry trends is not clear. But the trend line does not support the notion that massive regulatory intrusion is justified. Indeed, the electric power industry has shifted decisively to natural gas since 2005, which suggests that airborne toxics should decline even more dramatically in updated TRI reports.

The report notes that Virginia ranks sixth worst in the nation for health impacts from PM2.5 emissions (fine sooty particles) from coal-fired power plants, based on modeling by Abt Associates — 657 premature deaths annually. The modeling attributes 94 deaths from PM2.5 emissions to Dominion’s Chesterfield Generating Station alone. In all likelihood, that modeling was based upon data that preceded the installation of new scrubbers at Chesterfield. Moreover, much of the impact from PM2.5 emissions comes from out-of-state coal plants, hence would not be affected by a ratcheting up of DEQ regulation of Virginia-based power plants.

By contrast, the release of toxics into Virginia’s waterways increased by more than a third and on land by 10%. That suggests to me that water and ground pollution are far more likely than air pollution to be urgent problems that demand additional regulatory redress.

Before drawing any definitive conclusions, however, I’d like to delve deeper into the numbers. “Toxic” chemicals vary widely in toxicity and health effects, and they vary widely in the rate at which they degrade into harmless compounds. Are Virginia industries spewing more longer-lasting, highly toxic chemicals like kepone and PCBs into the waterways? Or are they dumping chemicals with short half-lives that have only mild effects? If the answer is the former, we have a problem that must be addressed. But if it’s the latter, perhaps the problem is less urgent. The report does not endeavor to answer that question.

Despite these reservations, I found the report illuminating. It is distressing to see that our rivers and streams are among the most toxic of any in the country. It is remarkable, if not outright scandalous, that Virginia has no plan for remediating contamination at non-Superfund sites and pursuing the parties responsible for the contamination. The recent chemical spill near Charleston, W. Va., provides vivid evidence that the threat posed by toxics is not merely theoretical. It is very real.