Jefferson County Foundation Submits a Petition to the WVDEP
On Sunday, January 26, Jefferson County Foundation submitted a petition to Secretary Caperton of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), asking that he require Rockwool to apply for and obtain an individual NPDES permit rather than a registration under the general industrial permit. This will allow better provisions and oversight to be added into the permit to protect the water resources of Jefferson County, Northern Virginia, Maryland, and the Chesapeake Bay. See the petition and exhibits on the documents page of our website.
Charleston Meetings
Jefferson County Foundation, with technical experts, met with senior government officials of the WVDEP on Monday, January 27, and shared our concerns with the stormwater construction, stormwater industrial and the air permits. Foundation president Chrissy Wimer joined members from JCV, EPGC, and Citizen Scientists in meeting with Delegate Paul Espinosa and the DEP during the E-Day activities in Charleston on January 28. The meeting with Espinosa was disappointing, but illuminating. While he said he was in favor of local control of development, he would not condemn the state driven WVEDA $150M bond agreement that usurped the desire of the local people and local development authority. He defended Rockwool, his employer, and denied that process water would be stored in the Rainwater for Reuse pond, but after showing him the site plan that clearly showed the storage, he conceded that some process water goes into the rainwater for reuse pond. He did not have any opinion or knowledge about the multiple house bills with environmental impact; in fact, he said he had not reviewed any of them.
Plumbing Plans
Through the FOIA, Jefferson County Foundation has obtained more up-to-date plumbing plans from the Charles Town City Council. Unfortunately, these plans still do not show where the samples for CTUB will be taken or the industrial effluent that will go to CTUB. Alarmingly, it still shows process water from inside buildings going to the rainwater for reuse pond. Please plan to attend the CTCC sewer workshop on February 12, which will feature Rockwool explaining to the CTCC and its experts the various risks to the Charles Town water treatment facility from Rockwool’s operations.
Millville Quarry Air Permit Update
Over 250 public comments were submitted to the WVDEP on the newest Millville Quarry temporary air permit through the Jefferson County Foundation website. It seems these public comments are already having an effect. Millville has requested to have their R13-3434T temporary permit (previous temporary permit) “retired.” On January 10, a DEP inspection was done to verify that the equipment associated with that permit had been removed from the site. Check out the Foundation’s public comment and recent communications between DEP and the Millville Quarry on the Documents page of our website.