Charlottesville, Va – December 2 – Wild Virginia and Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) filed suit on December 1 in Charlottesville Circuit Court challenging a permit the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued for industrial stormwater discharges from the U.S. Army’s Fort Belvoir, because the permit fails to include necessary requirements to monitor and control PFAS pollutants, David Sligh, Wild Virginia’s Water Quality Program Director, announced today.
The challenge cites extensive contamination at Fort Belvoir by per- and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS), which has been proven by the Army’s own studies, and the threat that discharges from the contaminated areas pose to people and the environment. DEQ failed even to make the required analysis of the extent of PFAS discharges and their effects on state waters.
Sligh stated: “Virginians have a right to expect that DEQ will protect them and their precious resources from these dangerous chemicals. The state is failing in its duty to control discharges like those being permitted at Fort Belvoir and we are insisting that officials reform their permitting approach and fully use their powers to eliminate PFAS releases to the environment.”
PFAS are a class of synthetic chemical pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment. PFAS are sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” due to the stability of their carbon-fluorine bonds. They have been prized for this characteristic and used since the 1940s in the manufacture of a wide variety of products, including in the aqueous film-forming foam (“AFFF”) that the U.S. military and many commercial airports used – and, in some cases, still use – to extinguish aircraft fuel fires. PFAS persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in living organisms, including humans.
The US EPA has determined after a review of the scientific evidence that two of the most well-studied PFAS — perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — are likely carcinogens. Other known human health effects of even low levels of PFAS are myriad and serious. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to reproductive effects, including decreased fertility and increased high blood pressure in pregnant women; developmental effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, and behavioral changes; increased risk of prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers; reduced immune function; interference with natural hormones; and increased cholesterol levels and risk of obesity.
Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper for PRKN, added: “Fort Belvoir releases pollution into a unique stretch of the River that serves as a regionally significant spawning ground for rockfish and shad, and as critical habitat for the Atlantic Sturgeon, an endangered species. The science is clear: PFAS contamination of our waterways threatens harm to aquatic life as well as to people who consume seafood.”
Dozens of commenters, including groups and individuals, called on DEQ to request more information from the applicant before acting on the permit, perform the necessary assessments, and develop appropriate conditions in the permit before proposing a new draft permit. These commenters included people who use and depend on the affected water, including Accotink Creek, Pohick Bay, and the Potomac River. Groups that joined Wild Virginia and PRKN in calling for proper action by DEQ in development of this permit included Friends of Accotink Creek, Nature Forward, Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, Southern Environmental Law Center, and Mount Vernon Council of Citizens’ Associations. Additionally, Virginia Senator Scott Surovell, Delegates Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and Paul Krizek, and Fairfax County Supervisor Dan Storck (Mt. Vernon District) urged DEQ to include necessary protections in the permit.
Sligh concluded, “DEQ knows about the dangers of PFAS and the widespread PFAS contamination at Fort Belvoir.There is simply no excuse for the failure of the permit to address the potentially catastrophic damage these chemicals may cause if left unmonitored and uncontrolled.”
The petition can be accessed through this link.
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About Wild Virginia
Wild Virginia’s mission is to protect and connect Virginia’s wild places, including by strengthening habitat connectivity, protecting water quality, limiting environmental harms of gas infrastructure, training volunteers through its Clean Water Advocates Program, and providing educational opportunities to connect people to the wild places they love. Wild Virginia’s work includes advocating to decisionmakers for the connectivity and integrity of Virginia’s wild places, empowering diverse communities to participate in regulatory processes, convening stakeholder groups, and connecting people to the outdoors. For more information visit wildvirginia.org.
About Potomac Riverkeeper Network
Potomac Riverkeeper Network is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with three regional Waterkeeper branches: Potomac Riverkeeper, Upper Potomac Riverkeeper, and Shenandoah Riverkeeper. PRKN’s mission is to protect the right to clean water for all communities and all those who live in and rely upon the Potomac and Shenandoah watersheds by stopping pollution, making drinking water safe, protecting healthy river habitats, and enhancing use and enjoyment for all.
For more information, visit our website.
