Stuck in the mud: State finds lax oversight of erosion control

Comment: State and local government cannot enforce simple rules, how in the world are they going to control uranium mining, they will not, they will take the money and turn their heads!

By Sarah Watson
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: November 22, 2009

Mud clogs our streams and rivers.

In lower Blackwater Creek, orange islands of barren ooze scar a stream that once ran clear over rocks and pebbles.

In upper Ivy Creek, gritty red guck has piled several feet high in some locations — the remnants of damage from sediment pouring off Bedford County construction sites during big storms.

In the James River, a ribbon of silty orange water stretches from the mouth of Blackwater Creek in downtown Lynchburg to Percival’s Island and beyond after heavy rains.

While state and local officials can’t pinpoint the exact sources or amount of the sediment pouring into the streams, there is little question that runoff from developments large and small is a key factor.

That conclusion is backed by a review of hundreds of documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, which show a near across-the-board struggle by planning departments statewide in enforcing Virginia’s standards for erosion and sediment control at construction sites.

An investigation by The News & Advance also showed that during the Lynchburg-area building boom of the mid-2000s, local departments charged with enforcing those standards were flooded with inspection requirements far outpacing their ability to carry out.

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation this summer completed a five-year review of every local program in Virginia. An analysis of that review by The News & Advance shows:

• Local erosion and sediment control programs in Lynchburg and the counties of Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Pittsylvania and Nelson counties all failed to meet state standards and were ordered to make major changes. Only Amherst County passed its review, which was completed in July.

• In more than 30 percent of area site inspections by state officials over a three-year period, critical erosion-control measures such as silt fences and sediment traps were not maintained. Another 30 percent were not installed correctly.

• 40 percent of local site plans in the state review failed to adequately protect waterways downstream of development projects during planning and construction. That requirement is one of the most critical state standards, according to John McCutcheon, erosion and sediment control program manager with DCR.

In many instances inspections were not done as required. If they were done, required written reports weren’t always prepared. At one point in Bedford County, three inspectors were responsible for keeping an eye on nearly 1,500 active sites.

The region ranks similarly to most other localities statewide, especially in deficiencies, McCutcheon said. Programs in Roanoke City, Fairfax County, Albemarle County and Virginia Beach were among only a handful statewide to pass their reviews.

“You can have the best plan done by the best engineers and the best thought-out erosion control,” McCutcheon said. “But if you don’t have good inspection and those measures are not installed properly and they’re not maintained, you just don’t have anything.”

This lack of oversight left developers facing little scrutiny of erosion control measures that can have far-reaching effects downstream.

Even when that oversight exists, contractors have little to fear. Some localities, like Lynchburg, have authority to fine violators and revoke bonds used by developers for building permits, but rarely do.

Inspection records show some developers and builders have violated the law by failing to comply even when inspectors order corrections.

Developers say they do the best they can with regulations that don’t always work on Central Virginia’s steep topography and highly erosive soil. They also say they don’t intentionally cause environmental damage, but it’s a side effect of development.

Enforcing the Law

Part of the struggle over the Bay’s future plays out in local planning offices, where site-by-site erosion control enforcement is key. This is time-consuming, politically charged and technical work.

As suburbs in the greater Lynchburg region sprouted rapidly over the past decade or so, erosion and sediment controls were often lax as area planning and enforcement officers were overwhelmed. Local ordinances were not stringent enough, nor were there enough people on the ground to keep up with demand.

“One of the problems is once a place gets really developed, then they may have the resources to do a good job,” said David Sligh, the James River Association’s Upper James Riverkeeper.

“But by then a lot of the damage has been done. The folks starting into a big rush of development are still very often behind knowing what’s going on and having the resources to do it and it gets ahead of them real quick.”

Local enforcement officials also say some contractors resisted following laws because they were rarely enforced until recently.

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