(Pungoteague, Virginia) In a February 15, 2018 letter to David Paylor, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”), a loosely formed coalition of five citizens from the Eastern Shore of Virginia counties of Accomack and Northampton urged the department to consider placing an injunction on the 83 poultry Care and Feeding Operations (CAFO’s) because they failed to get groundwater withdrawal permits.
Over the last several years, approximately 250-270 large broiler houses, some having the capacity to house 48,000 birds every 43 days, have been constructed or are under construction or in the planning stages in Accomack County.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia draws the majority of its drinking water from the Yorktown aquifer…the same source that is being used or proposed to be used by the CAFOs. Any prospective user who intends to withdraw over 300,000 gallons of groundwater per month in a groundwater management area is required BY LAW to first apply for and receive a permit to do so from the State Water Control Board, a citizen panel appointed by the Governor and a political arm of the DEQ.
The citizens respectfully requesting the injunction “or appropriate action” recently discovered that the DEQ failed to require the CAFO’s to get a groundwater withdrawal permit as required by Virginia Law 62.1-258, and that failure is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000/day for each and every day water is taken from a protected area without a permit.
Larry says
Stop this disregard of the law. Think 10 years ahead!
Paul Plante says
Good luck to these people is my thought, for they are going to need it, for what are looking at here is what is called “DEREGULATION” in the United States of America today, so that America can be turned into a ****hole nation with no laws and regulations to protect the public’s health, that so the United States can compete on a level playing field with the ****hole nations so as to maximize business profits.
As can plainly be seen here, deregulation does not actually require that regulations or laws be taken off the books.
To the contrary, deregulation happens when those put in place in positions of authority over us by the hack politicians who now control this country to our collective detriment, simply take it upon themselves to ignore the laws they are supposed to enforce, knowing they can do so with impunity.
How many times has this water board down here been challenged now in court?
Have they ever been found guilty of violating the law and held to account by being stripped of their positions, or by being fined and jailed for violating the public’s trust?
If that answer is no, and I believe it is, then what good is the law, period?
Why bother to even have it when it is so obviously worthless?
And this deregulation is not just in Virginia, because this nation and each independent state in it is now engaged in a race to the bottom in order to compete with each other and especially with the real ****hole nations where there are no regulations and nothing but political corruption where you get what you want by buying it with a bribe.
As a former regulator, I was actually confronted by people in business touting how efficient it was to do business in these ****hole nations because you knew up front the size of the bribe you would have to pay, and you could write the bribe off as a bidness expense, and you then didn’t have to wait for your approvals.
You simply bought them, like a commodity on the market, which is what “government approvals” have become.
So now, that is becoming our operative system here, as well, and for those of us who do not have a Cape Charles Mirror to depend on to get some truth out, the situation is dire in the sense that people have no idea of the damage being done to them by this “invisible” deregulation until it is too late, and the damage cannot be undone, especially with respect to groundwater.
With respect to that damage caused by this deregulation going on behind our backs without our permission, what follows is a letter on the subject I tried to get printed up here, to no avail, because we have a literal news blackout up here on the subject, to wit:
How many people in West Sand Lake today realize that on May, 4, 2017, the NYSDEC awarded TS&G a permit that will allow TS&G to withdraw 2,043,200 gallons per day of water from on-site wells and from Wynants Kill for the purpose of aggregate production, dust suppression, and tire washing.
According to the 2010 census for Sand Lake, the average family size was 3.08, so assuming 3 people per household at 40 gallons per person of water per day, that 2,043,200 gallons per day which DEC is allowing TS&G to withdraw is enough water per day for a community of 17,026 households versus a total population of 8,530 people in Sand Lake in 2010.
If TS&G now has an exclusive claim to that groundwater, which is what DEC has granted it with that permit, then it cannot at the same time serve as the groundwater supply for the existing community surrounding TS&G, which means when your well goes dry, it is what you get for living next to an industrial-sized mining operation.
As to the impacts to the surrounding community, the DEC determined that the issuance of the TS&G water withdrawal permit was a ministerial action, which means there was absolutely no consideration whatsoever given by the DEC to the impacts on the neighboring households surrounding the TS&G operation, as you people are deemed expendable by the business-friendly NYSDEC.
And since you are expendable, in this case DEC Commissioner Policy 29, Environmental Justice and Permitting (CP-29), a policy intended to promote the fair involvement of all people in the DEC environmental permit process by providing public access to DEC permit information and incorporating environmental justice concerns into DEC’s permit review process, has been determined by DEC to not apply.
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Notice the use of the word “ministerial” in there, for that is essentially the same issue that confronts people down here – these regulatory agencies using the term “ministerial action” so as to evade the law as written and more importantly, as a mechanism for keeping this violation of their rights hidden from them, while depriving them of a voice in the process, since there is no citizen input allowed on ministerial actions.
And that doesn’t stop with the WSL pit, which is a huge environmental disaster, courtesy of our corrupt New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, whose intitials DEC translate out as “Destroyers of the Environment and Communities,” while your DEQ seems to be the “Destroyer of Environmental Quality.”
On or about July 27, 2017, the DEC granted this same mining company, Troy Sand & Gravel Co., Inc., the “right” to withdraw 936,000 GPD from an existing intake pond at the facility, which is to the east of the WSL environmental disaster on Tayer Road in Stephentown, N.Y., with no review whatsoever of consequences to the neighborhood and the people there who rely on groundwater wells for their drinking water.
To get around citizen input on that one, the DEC simply classified it as a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Unlisted Action that will not have a significant impact on the environment, and then sealed the deal by putting a Negative Declaration is on file, nor was a coordinated review ever performed, which ensured that the townspeople affected would be kept totally out of the loop.
So this is what your DEQ and water board are competing against down here – the “BETTER DEAL” being offered to polluters and those who want no regulations to impede their profits by the business-friendly, anti-regulation NYSDEC.
William Cooper says
Eh… I love the environment as much as the next guy, but given the knowledge that environmental groups funded by wealthy elites connected back to the three world financial rulers (Al-Waleed Bin Talal chiefly of the Saudis. Nat, David, and Lynn Rothschild primarily, and the third I think was some Chinese family) have been working hard at taking the wealth away from developed nations and redistributing it to nations like India (loaded with homeless bums for religious reasons notoriously unproductive. Backwards for the lack of motivation and large beggar class.) Who are allowed to exploit cheap energy while we being considered developed are stricken to expensive energy making us unable to compete economically. Ironically making a nation of hard working responsible people finance a group of people who choose to deform their selves to the point of disability so that they can only beg for a living. Well… I think any recommendations coming from any environmentalist… especially such a minority group of 5 individuals should be lead off with a compelling scientific argument. And I mean real science… observational science and not theoretical science… None of this some guy in a barn with two balls in an uncontrolled and unrepeatable design where subtle air currents an the imperfection of the apparatus eventually leads to rotation, but we just call it gravity and now everything is because gravity and the math based on this thing gravity pot smoking Carl Sagan BS that’s been taught to everyone at such a young age that they all accept in on assumption without question when what we observe is merely relative density and displacement in action. LOL group of 5 LOL… CNN is now only watched by .18% of the country LOL. Crypto currencies are keeping the federal reserve in check lol…. Man… and 5 environmentalist fight the fight to shut down an isolated rural economy. Just give up. Find a real job there are lots of them coming. Or you can just go take a slide off the top of the Luxor casino LOL.
Paul Plante says
William, you sound like a dude with a Ph.D in Political Science from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Yale who is high up on the staff of EPA Director Scott Pruitt, so if you don’t mind, I would feel more comfortable calling you Doctor, as opposed to William, which I feel, due to the gravity of your position, would be overly familiar on my part.
And as a high-ranking person in the EPA, I personally am glad to hear that you love the environment as much as the next guy.
That, Doctor, or sir, is a real comfort to me, because as an old disabled veteran, I have to depend upon a healthful environment to keep me alive, and frankly, sir, or Doctor, unlike you, I don’t think your Director Scott Pruitt really gives a damn about poor, old people like me in America.
In my opinion, based on what I can tell, he is backing the action of wealthy elites connected back to the three world financial rulers, Al-Waleed Bin Talal chiefly of the Saudis. Nat, David, and Lynn Rothschild primarily, and the third I think was some Chinese family who have been working hard at taking the wealth away from developed nations and redistributing it privileged and connected Democrats and Republicans in this country who are also allowed to exploit cheap energy while we being considered developed are stricken to expensive energy, thanks to the energy companies who have so many of our politicians and government officials hanging like fobs off their gold waist chains, making us unable to compete economically, ironically making a nation of hard working responsible people finance a group of people who choose to deform their selves to the point of disability so that they can only beg for a living.
Such is the pitiful state of our American politicians today, and sir, I personally applaud you for having the courage to come out in here and say so.
And like you, I think any recommendations coming from any EPA Administrator, especially such a minority group as now controls the EPA, should be lead off with a compelling scientific argument, and I mean real science, you know, observational science – not theoretical science.
But you and I both know that is not going to happen with this present EPA administration.
Incidentally, Doctor, while we are on the subject of Scott Pruitt, what did you think of that Associated Press article “EPA head expenses nearly $200,000 in travel over 6 months” on 16 February 2018, where we were told as follows:
SAN FRANCISCO — Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt and staffers billed taxpayers nearly $200,000 for his trips over six months last year, including 10 visits to Pruitt’s former home city of Tulsa, according to travel vouchers obtained by an environmental organization.
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Two hundred grand, Doctor!
And you know why?
Here’s the answer from that article:
Pruitt earlier this week said a “toxic environment politically” required first-class travel and protection from his 24-hour security detail.
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Now, what is it that you think of that, sir – a “toxic environment politically” requiring first-class travel for Scott Pruitt and protection from his 24-hour security detail?
As to his personal security staff, which serves to protect him from the American people, the Associated Press tells us as follows:
Most of the reported expenses did not appear to include travel costs of the unknown number of security guards traveling with Pruitt.
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And of course, for national security purposes, they can’t tell us how big Scott Pruitt’s private army of guards really is, but for someone of his stature on the world stage, I would think it would have to rival that of Al-Waleed Bin Talal, for Scott Pruitt is at least his equal, but being American, is actually his superior, because we created Saudi Arabia out of nothing but acres of sand with American money and American power, otherwise, Al-Waleed Bin Talal would still be just another nomad in the desert herding camels for a living, and he knows that.
And according the Associated Press, we should all draw some comfort from this:
The EPA has said all the charter flights were necessary and previously approved by ethics lawyers.
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If it was approved by government ethics lawyers, then of course, it not only has to be legal and lawful, but it also has to be the right thing to do.
So, yes, Doctor, I am aboard with you when you say about these climate change science deniers: “None of this some guy in a barn with two balls in an uncontrolled and unrepeatable design where subtle air currents an the imperfection of the apparatus eventually leads to rotation, but we just call it gravity and now everything is because gravity and the math based on this thing gravity pot smoking Carl Sagan BS that’s been taught to everyone at such a young age that they all accept in on assumption without question when what we observe is merely relative density and displacement in action,” which is your Ph.D. speaking loud and clear there, along with your American patriotism, which like mine, rails at the fact that we now live in a once proud nation that is ruled by a pack of morons, idiots and imbeciles who have created the “toxic environment politically” which now requires first-class travel for Scott Pruitt and protection from his 24-hour security detail.
And what really, Doctor, is America coming to as a result of all these morons and idiots in charge of this country?
As you say, our politics have become so stupid and childish that CNN is now only watched by .18% of the country.
Poor Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, has to address the nation and conduct her diplomacy in TWEETS, because our federal government is now run by people who cannot assimilate more than 180 characters of gibberish at a time.
So no wonder nobody watches CNN – they use too many big words to say what is going on in the world.
In fact, in a Chicago Sun-Times article entitled “In U. of C. talk, Nikki Haley says Trump’s tweets make her UN work ‘interesting’” on 2/22/2018 by Mitchell Armentrout, Nikki Haley told us she now has an African president she met, and he is now calling the Penquin dude who runs North Korea “Little Rocket Man,” because that is what Haley does in her TWEETS about him as U.N. ambassador.
And then there are the Crypto currencies, which are a huge scam.
I don’t know about you, doctor, but as for me, I think our American economy is about to take a slide off the top of the Luxor casino.
And thanks on behalf of a grateful nation for weighing in on the mess this country is now in.
With your impressive credentials, I hope your voice gets heard!
Peter Parks says
What do you intend to feed the bellies and bank accounts of a vast portion of the shore’s population that eat that cheap protein and work there?