By Tess Mackey, Virginia Sea Grant Correspondent
“We depend on water…but we take water for granted,” said David Paylor, the Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Paylor was one of the speakers at the William & Mary Law School Environmental Law & Policy Review symposium, co-sponsored by the Virginia Coastal Policy Center (a Virginia Sea Grant extension partner), on Friday, March 27.
The symposium, titled “What’s in Your Water? A Discussion of Threats to Virginia’s Water Quality” identified concerns and solutions to Virginia water quality issues. Panels discussed contaminants, energy, and the challenges of coal ash, toxic algal blooms, hydraulic fracturing, and the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load litigation.
One in every three Virginians lives within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Water, runoff, and chemicals all flow from this highly populated watershed into the Bay, contributing significantly to the health of the ecosystem and to human health. According to Noah Sachs, Esq., a professor from the University of Richmond TC Williams School of Law, Virginia discharges the second highest amount of toxic substances into waterways in the nation. Chesapeake Bay has many widespread contaminants, such as mercury, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and nutrient and sediment pollution. These substances lead to fish kills and contaminated groundwater, and scientists are concerned that they are exposure pathways and that could lead to human health issues.
Efforts to improve water quality in the bay have a history of inefficiency according to Congressman Robert Wittman, a keynote speaker at the symposium. The Congressman grew up by the Bay and has seen dramatic changes during his lifetime. At the symposium, he discussed the Chesapeake Bay Accountability Act. This Act aims to identify where money is spent on Bay programming and independently evaluate success for adaptive management. Panelists agreed that there should be a science-based focus for policy and public education to prevent environmental crises.
The Environmental Law & Policy Review is a William & Mary Law School journal which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. The journal focuses on current environmental law issues and their policy implications. The current symposium issue can be read online here.
