Politics & Government
Fairfax City's Plan To Reduce Water Pollution Approved By VA DEQ
The newly approved action plan outlines the city's strategies to reduce pollutant discharges to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reviewed and approved Fairfax City’s draft third-phase Chesapeake Bay TMDL (total maximum daily load) Action Plan. The action plan outlines the city’s strategies to reduce pollutant discharges to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment are the pollutants of concern drive the need for required pollutant reduction in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes the entire city. The final third-phase action plan will be submitted to DEQ for review this fall.
DEQ also confirmed the city has met the cumulative 40% (Level 2) pollutant reductions based on review of the progress that has been reported annually to DEQ. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL is implemented in three phases. The first phase requires meeting 5% of the goal. The second phase requires an additional 35% (40% cumulative), and the third phase requires an additional 60% (100% cumulative) by 2028.
Find out what's happening in Fairfax Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Both the approach to meet 40% reduction targets and the draft third-phase action plan leverage a combination of environmental projects and credit exchanges through agreements with Fairfax County. The latter is made possible by the city’s 6% stake in the Noman M. Cole Jr. Pollution Control Plant in Lorton, Va., which treats wastewater before releasing it into the environment.
Major environmental projects that have provided pollutant reductions in Fairfax City include Daniels Run stream restoration, Tusico Branch stream restoration, three outfall restorations, and the retrofit of the City Hall detention pond. Upcoming projects to make progress toward the 100% cumulative target include the Stafford Drive stream restoration project, the Ashby Pond dredging and retrofit project, outfall restorations, retrofitting the Lion Run detention pond, and future stream restoration projects in early stages of development.
Find out what's happening in Fairfax Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
For more information, contact Satoshi Eto, public works program manager, at 703-385-7810.
Pictured above: Dredging Ashby Pond will improve its capacity to manage stormwater.
This press release was produced by the City of Fairfax. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
