Category: Environment

PRESS RELEASE: County Board Talks the Talk

In a recent article, ARLnow columnist Peter Rousselot castigated County Board for failing to address local flooding, even though it denounced Donald Trump for failing to deal with climate change. Rousselot said:

“Arlington talks the talk about global climate change, but fails to walk the walk locally.”

Peter Rousselot, ARLnow.com

Rousselot called on County government to “[s]low the dramatic increase in impervious surfaces” that causes flooding in low lying areas.

Unfortunately that’s not likely to happen. Just last week County Board rubber stamped two major planning documents–the Public Spaces Master Plan (PSMP) and the Bicycle Element of the Master Transportation Plan. Both of these documents call for widening bike trails in the Four Mile Run Valley to handle increasing bike traffic.

At an April 23 public hearing on the Bicycle Element, County Board ignored calls to remove projects to widen the W&OD and Mount Vernon trails, even though the result will be more flood inducing runoff.

County Ends Curbside Glass Recycling

Recycling is another issue that demonstrates the County’s commitment to lip service only on environmental issues. On April 25 the Board voted to authorize the County Manager to terminate curbside glass recycling as a cost cutting measure.

From now on residential glass waste will be trucked with other trash to Alexandria’s waste to energy (WTE) facility to be burned. The County Manager provided no information on the cost savings of burning glass versus recycling it, and the Board didn’t ask.

I Walk the Walk

Are you tired of the doublespeak you get from County Board on everything from recycling to runoff? Then you should consider an independent alternative.

If elected to County Board, you can be sure that I will lobby against paving over the County’s remaining natural areas and for alternatives to ending curbside recycling.

In addition, if elected, I pledge to:

  • Seek other tax relief for residents and businesses and stop the exodus of federal agencies from Arlington.
  • Preserve green space and emphasize basic services like: streets, schools, libraries and public safety.
  • Promote transparency by requiring publication of official documents at least 72 hours before board and commission meetings.
  • Provide a voice on County Board for all taxpayers.

As a 15-year Westover resident, long-time civic activist and current member of the Transportation Commission–I have both the experience and independence to promote these reforms.

Public Spaces Master Plan Calls for Widening Bike Trails

Comments At Arlington County Board Meeting, 4/25/19

The same environmental considerations that govern the Bicycle Element should guide the Public Spaces Master Plan (PSMP) especially for those areas that are located in Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) governed by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA). This includes the entire linear regional park along Four Mile Run and all of the local parks that abut it.

Dr. Bernard Berne has forwarded to you amendments to the draft PSMP to remove language to widen trails located in urban parks, on the grounds that:

“Wide paved trails within natural areas and Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) add impermeable surfaces that disturb natural areas, harm nearby trees, reduce the size of adjacent meadows and other natural features, and increase stormwater runoff.  Further, wide trails detract from the experiences that people visiting the areas for reasons other than transportation wish to enjoy.”

Dr. Bernard Berne

Dr. Berne cites the 2012 AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, which recommends designing trails for lower speeds in urban parks (p. 5-12).

He also recommends removing Section 2.3.4 (p. 90): as inconsistent with preservation of natural areas stipulated in Section 3.2 (p. 98):

2.3.4 Explore ways to safely separate modes, where space allows, on high traffic trail routes and where user conflicts commonly occur, while minimizing impact on natural resources and trees.

Separating bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the most heavily used routes will enhance the safety of all users.

And adding a second sentence to Section 6.1.4 (p. 128):

Mowed buffers adjacent to paved trails in natural areas should not exceed three feet in width, except where environmental conditions prevent this.

As authority, Dr. Berne cites the AASHTO Guide (p. 5-5), which recommends that:

. . . a graded shoulder area at least 3 to 5 ft (0.9 to 1.5 m) wide with a maximum cross-slope of 1V:6H, which should be recoverable in all weather conditions, should be maintained on each side of the pathway.

Finally Dr. Berne recommends an appendix that contains all existing County maintenance standards for parks and trails, so that the public can determine if the County is adhering to them.

No More Curbside Glass Recycling

Comments At Arlington County Board Meeting, 4/25/19.

I oppose the County Manager’s recommendation to amend Chapter 10 of the County Code to enable it to ship residential waste glass to the waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator in Alexandria on both economic and environmental grounds.

The County argues that it is compelled to stop recycling glass, because the cost of disposal has gone from $4.66 per ton to $16.31 per ton.

Yet according to civic activist Suzanne Sundburg, who cites the County’s own recycling website, that cost is dwarfed by the $43.16 per ton fee the County pays to haul its trash to the WTE facility in Alexandria.

So the move makes no economic sense. It also makes no environmental sense, since glass, which doesn’t burn, must ultimately be trucked to a landfill.

The move away from recycling glass isn’t necessary. Alexandria has established 4 waste-glass drop-off centers; this material will be sent from the drop-off centers to a Fairfax County processing facility to be recycled into gravel and sand that can be used locally.

If Alexandria, which co-owns the WTE plant, can find a way to recycle waste glass without inconveniencing its residents, Arlington can too.

Arlington Civic Association Says VDOT Responsible for Erosion of W&OD Trail

Comments At Arlington County Board Meeting, 2/26/19

I am speaking in my capacity as a director of the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation (ACST), not as a member of the Transportation Commission.

I support VDOT’s request for temporary and permanent easements along the W&OD and Custis Trails to implement needed trail improvements between East Falls Church Metro and Ballston.

I pulled this item from the consent agenda because it does not include a plan to address the root cause of flooding of Four Mile Run in the immediate vicinity of the work VDOT has outlined.

You should have received a recent letter from the Madison Manor Civic Association (MMCA) thanking you for undertaking to shore up erosion along the W&OD trail in the vicinity of the Patrick Henry overpass.

However, MMCA is concerned that unless the cause of the erosion is addressed, it will recur. Members of the civic association have identified the problem as clogged intakes to a storm water diversion bypass tunnel about one third mile upstream.

It is irresponsible for the County to ignore this situation, of which it is surely aware. County Board itself in approving the I-66 widening project on 1/28/17 in agenda item 37.C.e stipulated to VDOT that:

any new stormwater management facilities proposed with this project be adequately maintained, specifically that erosion and sediment controls should be outlined and contain information on inspection and enforcement actions.

County Board should direct staff to contact VDOT and stipulate the repair and upgrade or replacement of the existing intakes as part of the I-66 eastbound widening project, which authorizes such improvements as long as they are within the scope of the project.

Insofar as the bypass tunnel runs directly under the I-66 ROW before emptying into Four Mile Run, it is definitely within the eastbound widening project’s scope of work. Thus it is well within the authority of Arlington County Board to make this request.

Tree Canopy Estimate Questioned

Comments at Arlington County Board Meeting On June 16, 2018.

At the April 21, 2018 County Board meeting, civic activist Suzanne Sundburg blasted the County for misrepresenting the health of Arlington’s tree canopy. She said:

“Arlington’s claim of a 1 percent tree canopy increase between 2011 and 2017 is not statistically valid”—due to the wide 6 percent margin of error in the reported statistic.

Christian Dorsey dismissed Sundburg’s criticism of the County’s 2017 tree canopy study that reported this number. He said: “Getting into a misunderstanding about data points of a percentage point or two are not really useful for our public policy.”

Yet the District of Columbia Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) is embroiled in a controversy right now with Forest Service (USFS) researchers over a similar difference in reported statistics. (more…)

EPA Plan to Relax Coal Ash Regulation Affects Potomac River

Comments At EPA Coal Ash Hearing on April 24, 2018.

I stand in opposition to proposed amendments to EPA’s coal ash regulation not as an expert but as a citizen and an avid kayaker. I’ve been kayaking on the Potomac since 1997, and I’m concerned about the hazardous impact on water quality, wildlife, and water sports of dumping contaminated coal ash into the Potomac River from the site of a retired coal fired plant at Possum Point on Quantico Creek south of Alexandria.

According to Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks, Dominion Resources has been dumping contaminated coal ash from ponds at Possum Point into the Potomac via Quantico Creek since at least May, 2015. In January, 2016 instead of banning this practice, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a wastewater discharge permit authorizing more Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) dumping over the objections of citizens of Prince William County and their state senator Scott Surovell. (more…)

Stop Paving Over Parkland

Comments at Arlington County Board Meeting on December 16, 2017.

While I generally support the Framework Plan for Benjamin Banneker Park, I oppose the widening of the multi-use trails from 8 feet to 12 feet with a ten foot minimum.

First, most of the park lies within a resource protection area (RPA) defined by the watershed created by Four Mile Run. Four Mile Run Trail runs close to the stream throughout the park—as close as three feet from the stream bank in some areas. (more…)

PRESS RELEASE: Compromise On Community Concerns Not an Option for County Board

September 25, 2017

I’m an Independent candidate in the race for an open seat on County Board in November, and I seek your endorsement.

Do you wonder why Arlington streets are so congested, its schools overcrowded, and its parks candidates for the Endangered Species List? Arlington County Board will tell you that the County is a victim of its own success in attracting new residents to its walkable, Metro accessible neighborhoods.

The fact of the matter is the County could easily accommodate more new residents with fewer impacts if it adhered to its own written policies, the recommendations of its commissions and the advice of the public.

Consider that on September 16, the County approved the design for a new community center near Lubber Run that was deprecated by the Environment and Energy Conservation Commission (E2C2), Natural Resources Joint Advisory Group (NRJAG), the Public Facilities Review Committee (PFRC) and the Urban Forestry Commission, because it will necessitate major excavation of the site to put in a massive underground parking garage in contravention of its Car Free Diet policy. It will also require removal of 100 shade trees in contravention of the County’s Public Spaces Master Plan. These features will likely induce runoff and degradation of the nearby Lubber Run watershed.

On September 19, the County approved the location of new a VRE rail station in Crystal City, ignoring the pleas of the Planning Commission, Crystal City civic organizations and condo association leaders to defer a decision until the costs and impacts of alternative sites are fully evaluated–a modest request considering that the new rail station will be a permanent landmark and a major Northern Virginia transportation hub.

Also on September 19, the County ignored the pleas of numerous residents of the Leeway Overlee community to approve a day care center that will likely engender cut through traffic on an adjacent one lane street off Lee Highway that has already experienced major traffic accidents.

In each instance the demands of development superseded the concerns of residents about the environmental impacts of the project. In each of these cases, modifications to the scale or siting of the proposed facility would have appeased neighbors and resulted in a structure more in keeping with its surroundings.

So why isn’t County Board listening to all of its citizens? The simple answer is that confident that it will get reelected no matter what it does, the Board simply doesn’t care.

You can help turn that situation around by electing another Independent to Arlington County Board who will be accountable to the voters. Arlington currently has one Independent on County Board, who is well respected among County residents. Let’s make it two!!!

If elected, I pledge to:

  • Seek ongoing tax relief for residents and businesses and stop the exodus of federal agencies from Arlington.
  • Preserve green space and emphasize basic services like: streets, schools, libraries and public safety.
  • Promote transparency by requiring publication of official documents at least 72 hours before board and commission meetings.
  • Provide a voice on County Board for all taxpayers.

As a 13-year Westover resident and long-time civic activist–with a Ph.D. in political science and service as a Congressional Fellow–I have both the experience and independence to promote these reforms.

To find out more about my campaign, visit my website. Better still you can make a difference by endorsing my candidacy.

Together we can make the "Arlington Way" more than an empty phrase.

Approval of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Map Premature

Remarks given on behalf of long-time civic leader and environmentalist Suzanne Sundburg at Arlington County Board Meeting on July 15, 2017.

Please defer a vote on this agenda Item 50 (Updated Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Map). A vote today is premature because agenda Item 52 (endorsement of the design and contract award for Lubber Run Community Center) — which will not be heard until the Board’s July 18 recess meeting – includes a geotechnical engineering report indicating the presence of a significant amount of water on the LRCC site. (more…)