Hampton Roads Steps Away From the Courthouse…for Now

 
Sixteen Hampton Roads cities and counties have pulled a lawsuit against EPA off the table – at least for now.

That’s a victory for calmer heads, rationality, and more dialogue. It’s also a victory for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and partners, who rallied a roomful of Bay advocates at yesterday’s Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) meeting to protest any litigation to delay or halt the Bay restoration effort.

Call the results of yesterday’s meeting an uneasy truce between Hampton Roads localities and EPA and Virginia. The former, under the auspices of the HRPDC, have been grousing for months about (often exaggerated) Bay cleanup costs and possible regulatory requirements.  The commission has retained a big, outside law firm to advise it and met yesterday to consider its “legal options” for opposing the cleanup.

But first, the HRPDC heard from EPA and Commonwealth of Virginia officials, who were called in to more fully explain the cleanup plan and clarify expectations.  Jeff Corbin, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s “Bay czar,” and Anthony Moore, Virginia assistant secretary of natural resources for Chesapeake Bay restoration, both made presentations. Both were peppered with questions, some laced with rumor, misunderstanding, and frustration.

Both left the meeting with long lists of questions to which HRPDC wants answers, Corbin with a 6-page HRPDC letter detailing concerns and issues. HRPDC leaders said they’ll table further discussions about “legal options” and continue the dialogue with EPA and state officials. CBF and other Bay advocates, who have lobbied HRPDC to forego litigation and to seek collaboration and restoration instead, left pleased that their voices were heard.

The last few years have been eventful for the Chesapeake Bay – widespread acknowledgements of previous cleanup failures, presidential executive orders, lawsuit settlements, and an unprecedented commitment by state and federal partners that it’s finally time to get serious about saving the Bay.

The new Bay restoration initiative, including Virginia’s first phase of its implementation plan, was finalized just a few months ago. By design, the next step – to localize the plan, giving local governments the opportunity to figure out details of who and where and how to reduce pollution in County X and City Y – will play out over the next year. It’s only March.

Chuck Epes
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Comments

[אריזות קרטון]

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[Alice]

Nice view from the sky. Hampton has lots to show its visitors. I hope i can go and see it with my own eyes some day.

[Oliver]

I can't imagine about such a wonderful place. This view makes me exciting!!! I will definetly visit this place one day.