Concerns about monitoring and managing chemicals at Arlington County’s Water Pollution Control Plant have prompted a public hearing this week.
The hearing is a follow-up to a public comment period last September and October, where advocates sought amendments to the draft permit related to limitations and best management practices for PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), also known as “forever chemicals.”
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will conduct the meeting on Thursday (Jan. 15) at 7 p.m. at Innovation Elementary School (2300 Key Blvd). It relates to the county’s request to continue operations at the plant — located at 3402 S. Glebe Road — and its practice of releasing treated wastewater into the Potomac River watershed via Four Mile Run.
In addition, the county is seeking continuation of the removal by a contractor of sludge left over during the treatment process, DEQ officials said.
PFAS represent a large grouping of manmade chemicals. Because they do not break down easily, they have caused health and environmental concerns.
Among groups raising concerns about operations at the county’s Water Pollution Control Plant is Wild Virginia, a nonprofit advocacy group.
David Sligh, the organization’s water-quality program director, explained his group’s concerns to ARLnow:
“Dangerous PFAS chemicals have been discharged to streams from the Arlington wastewater plant and carried to farm fields around the state in its sewage sludge,” Sligh said. “But the Virginia DEQ has refused to meet its legal obligations to protect people and wildlife from the serious threats these pollutants pose.”
“The public must continue to demand that state officials listen to our voices and enforce the Clean Water Act and state standards,” he continued.
Katie O’Brien, a spokesperson for Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, emphasized the county’s commitment to high standards of water treatment in a statement to ARLnow. She noted that the PFAS comes from the wastewater entering the plant, not the plant’s processing of it.
Arlington County works closely with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and federal agencies, to meet and maintain the highest standards of water quality and treatment. Thursday’s public hearing at Innovation Elementary School is standard for a permit renewal for the Water Pollution Treatment Plant (WPCB), which has been serving the Arlington community for nearly a century. To be clear, Arlington’s WPCB does not produce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). It is a passive receiver, like all wastewater facilities, of everything the community discards down the drain, including PFAS.
According to environmental and health advocates, even small amounts of PFAS can cause serious health problems, including fertility issues and pregnancy complications, weakened immune system and hormone disruption, hyperthyroidism, obesity and certain cancers.
In addition to the Jan. 15 public hearing, DEQ is hosting a public comment period — open now through Friday, Jan. 30 — on the county’s application.
