Jefferson County Foundation’s Legal Counsel Filed a Reply with the EQB
On Thursday, January 9, the Foundation’s Counsel filed a Reply to the Objection of the Builders Supply Association of West Virginia to the Foundation’s Motion to Intervene on appeal 19-13-EQB. Appeal 19-13-EQB was filed with the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) by the Builders Supply Association of West Virginia and appealed the newest version of the General multi-sector stormwater permit. They claimed that the newest version of the permit was too onerous. The Motion to Intervene on EQB appeal 19-13-EQB was filed by Jefferson County Foundation and eight co-interveners on December 4, 2019. We are fighting to keep these protective provisions in the permit so that it is more protective of our ground water resources. Next, the EQB will decide on our motion and the hearing date is set for mid-February. Read about the reply and motion in more detail here.
The Foundation is Fighting for Transparency on Rockwool’s Plumbing Plans
On Monday, January 6, Foundation President Chrissy Wimer presented at the Charles Town City Council (CTCC) encouraging the City to get the updated Rockwool plumbing plans. It was disclosed in this meeting that the city intentionally avoided the need for public involvement in the council’s meeting with the City’s sewer engineer. Apparently, the council was divided up into small groups to meet with the City engineer, avoiding a quorum, and therefore the need to hold public meetings. The meetings were not noticed and they were closed to the public. Planning and conducting a series of small meetings to avoid having an open meeting is a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Check out the Open Meetings Act information here.
On Tuesday, the Foundation submitted a FOIA request to Charles Town to illuminate, for the public, what happened in these meetings and how they came about. Stay tuned to find out what happened.
Foundation Presented to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors
Tuesday, January 7, Foundation President Chrissy Wimer presented during the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors meeting about the Millville Quarry temporary air permit, and encouraged them to contact the EPA and DEP. Several of the Supervisors were interested and engaged on the subject. The Foundation sent letters with more information to the Supervisors and the Mayors and Councils of the seven closest towns in Virginia.
Over 250 Public Comments Submitted to the DEP from the Foundation Website
On Friday, January 10, the Foundation submitted detailed written public comment to the DEP asking that the Millville Quarry temporary air permit be denied. The public submitted over 250 public comments to the DEP on the Millville Quarry temporary air permit through the Foundation website. We thank you for taking the time to get this done. It has implications for our air and our fight against Rockwool.
Community Forum on Rockwool
The Community Forum on Rockwool held Friday, January 3 was a great success. We hope everyone found it helpful and we thank you for attending. We hope to make this a recurring event. If you missed the Forum, please check out the video.
Future Filings
This weekend, we are working on upcoming filings. If you have time to get involved this weekend, check out our Make a Difference page. If you would like to support our ongoing legal fight against Rockwool, please make a fully tax deductible donation on our donate page. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.