Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505160015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL McKENNA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As Sampson, who served until recently as a senior official at the Department of Environmental Quality, quite correctly points out, the last three administrations unfortunately paid little or no attention to the consistency of enforcement of the solid-waste laws or regulations.
In fact, at one point, there were only two state employees to inspect all the landfills in the commonwealth.
Given that, I agree that it is unconscionable that the previous regimes at DEQ and its predecessor agencies allowed some landfills to remain out of compliance much longer than others. It also seems that Sampson's points should be taken with respect to how dramatically the situation has deteriorated in the last dozen years.
It is not until the writer asserts that there will be ``fewer dollars and fewer people'' to implement changes suggested by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission that we hit a bump in the road. Contrary to Sampson's assertion, the Allen administration has not cut funding for environmental- enforcement activities.
In the commentary, DEQ is scored for preferring an approach that emphasizes the risks to health posed by each site, rather than simply relying on how close a community is to a site. Emphasizing risk over proximity makes good sense. A rattlesnake three feet away presents significantly more risk than a garter snake in your boot.
I think it is also important to note that the health risks emanating from landfills are routinely overestimated. By and large, landfills have ample safety margins built into the requirements for liner and leachate control systems.
As one prominent physician has said about Superfund sites, which the government classifies as substantially more compromised than any landfill site in Virginia, the best estimate of additional deaths from exposure to such sites is approximately zero.
Sampson closes with the admonition that ``Virginia's environmental laws and regulations should be consistently and fairly applied.'' I agree, and it is important to recognize that for the first time in a long time, so does DEQ.
Michael McKenna of Richmond is director for policy and planning for Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality.
by CNB