VDOT and Fairfax County take legal issue with EPA’s new water regulations

On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)[1] and Fairfax County[2] filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that terrible government institution that seeks to protect human and environmental health.[3] According to the suit, the EPA’s regulations define water as a pollutant, a regulation that would force local and state officials to spend millions of dollars to clean the water.

Moreover, the lawsuit claims that the EPA is attempting to regulate the quantity of water that can flow through the Accotink Creek[4] in Fairfax County. Both Fairfax County and VDOT claimed that the EPA regulations would somehow worsen Accotink’s water.

The apogee of this drama has culminated in a partnership between the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors[5], a group largely made up of Democrats, and Tea Party hero Ken Cuccinelli. I can just hear the far-right crowing with pleasure.

While EPA’s water regulations may be strict, the fundamental point is that if Fairfax County had been taking care to ensure the integrity of its water supplies, this latest battle would have never begun. Instead, a wall of animosity has now been placed between the EPA and Fairfax County, a pairing which had previously enjoyed benevolent relations.[6]

The EPA should not back down however, even in the face of various assaults from across the country, for aggressively pursuing its mission. The EPA won’t always be right[7], and indeed, they may be wrong on this occasion.

But the mission to protect human and environmental health shouldn’t be sidelined every time a locality or group or individual plays the price-tag card. Yes, environmental protection isn’t cheap, but saving human lives and the environment for hundreds or thousands of years is worth almost every penny. Cost-benefit be damned!

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[1] http://www.virginiadot.org/

[2] http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/

[3] http://washingtonexaminer.com/virginia-fairfax-sue-epa-over-water-rules/article/2502024

[4] http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/watersheds/accotinkcreek.htm

[5] http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board/

[6] http://washingtonexaminer.com/virginia-fairfax-sue-epa-over-water-rules/article/2502024

[7] http://juneauempire.com/state/2012-07-13/epa-considering-shell-permit-change-request