Even after pipeline pollution, DEQ is still resisting water protections and public participation

Virginia Mercury discusses why DEQ is resisting water protections and public participation in pipeline decisions.

In March, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced a new stakeholder advisory group to discuss numeric criteria for turbidity in streams.

Turbidity is a measure of sediment (dirt) and organic materials that make waterbodies cloudy or muddy, harm fish and other critters and impair human uses. Numeric criteria are an important tool in permitting and enforcement. The need for these requirements is all too plain, after assaults on our waters by Mountain Valley Pipeline and DEQ’s weak responses.

There are two major problems with DEQ’s effort.