Gentlemen and Ladies:

I served on the Tributary Strategies Committee for the Potomac.   Everything, all the time, everywhere is needed to clean up our public waters.  Making Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) available for citizen inspection is one step in the right direction. 

In early fall I survey the submerged aquatic vegetation on a tidal tributary of the Potomac River.  Each and every leaf, stem, and flower part of every strand of six species of SAV is covered with sediment.  If you stir up the water around a SAV stand, you and your kayak are floating in a sea of mud.  It is doubtful that light is reaching the plant for photosynthesis and hence the production of oxygen.  Macroinvertebrates, frogs, and fish populations have been greatly diminished in recent years by mud from construction.  Contaminant-carrying sediment and runoff has landed many of Stafford’s creeks on the “impaired” list.    

In my jurisdiction the easy- to-build land is mostly developed; this leads developers to parcels with steep slopes and/or erodible soils, land that probably should not be developed at all.   Laws are insufficient, ambiguous, or ignored.  On one occasion in 2006 I reported 38 violations with photographs giving a written explanation of the violation, violations that had been present for well over 30 days.  Ten days and two heavy rains later, the site was still not functioning to stop the deposition of mud and pollutants in wetlands and streams.    

There is little recognition that we are destroying a public asset, Virginia’s formerly beautiful and bountiful waters. When will this “taking” of our public assets stop?  Not until legislation is enacted on many levels.  The “volunteer” efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay have failed abysmally.  It’s beyond time for the state to act in the public interest.

I particularly favor SWPPPs being available at every construction site in Virginia for the public to view upon request.  There is no reason why a citizen observing pollution, or perhaps a site with no pollution, should not be able to learn all the details about plans to manage for clean public waters.  Education of the public is in the public interest.

I value the time, effort, and expertise of the TAC working on this issue.  Please act before another five years passes and inform me of the outcome of this proposal.  Thank you.

Patricia Kurpiel
38 Dobe Point,  Stafford, Va
Accokeek Creek watershed, a tributary of the Potomac Creek and the Potomac River