Issue Updates, Spring 2005

Trash Trucks: They may soon reappear on Rappahannock County roads. The Battle Creek Landfill in Page County was closed a year ago. According to the Page News & Courier, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said the operator, National Waste Services (NWS) of Virginia, had violated the county’s solid-waste permit. NWS said it had no voice in the revocation process and was suing the county and each of the five supervisors for lost revenue in the amount of $38 million and $1 million, respectively.

Page County then filed a $72 million claim against NWS. On March 1, 2005, the county agreed to pay the financial backers of NWS $8.5 million to settle everything so the county could take over the landfill and correct deficiencies (at an additional cost of $3.5 million).
Pending certain expected court approvals, the settlement allows Page County to reopen and operate the landfill. DEQ is letting the county bring in up to 250 tons of trash per day, which the county would like to increase to 750 tons but would require DEQ approval. At its peak, NWS was bringing in up to 1,500 tons per day. The county has enough local and regional suppliers of trash under the current maximum limit that it does not need to accept refuse from out of state. NWS declared bankruptcy before the closing of the landfill. Page County has been paying other operators about $30,000 a week to transport its trash elsewhere. Page County will likely form a Public Service Authority (PSA) to run the landfill and would like to reopen it, possibly by July.

Cell-Phone Towers: Six towers are operational. The seventh, the Miller grain silo, along Route 211 near Washington, has still not been approved by the FCC. If and when approved, it must go through the county permitting process.

Electronics Recycling: As an environmental measure, Virginia state law now forbids putting electronic equipment in with regular trash or recycling because of the heavy metals and other toxins in circuit boards. Rappahannock County has arranged for a company to haul away such electronic equipment from the Amissville and Flatwood trash sites to a certified recycler. The county is charging below-cost fees for the recycling: computers, $5; UPS backup systems, $7; monitors and small copiers, $10; televisions, $15; large, standalone copiers, $30.There are no charges for keyboards, mice, printers, cell phones, or cabling.

Water and Sewer Systems for Washington: The Town of Washington is moving ahead with water and sewer planning, a main goal of which is to enlarge the capacities of both systems. An important feature of the plan is the construction of a sewage treatment plant that will likely result in treated effluent going into the Rush River. This is certainly preferable to an alternative of piping sewage to Sperryville for treatment there, which could intensify commercial and residential development pressures along the Rt. 211 corridor between the town and village. Questions remain as to how much sewage treatment capacity is needed for current and projected future town users; and whether discharge of treated effluent into the Rush is preferable to insertion of treated waste into the ground, a third alternative. Concerned citizens and landowners should share their thoughts on this issue with the Washington Town Council. RLEP will continue to monitor this issue.

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