We must not sacrifice the future of our children, and perhaps our species, to calls for convenience and profit. The Chesapeake Bay is on the verge of becoming a dead body of water, and it is the pollution of the streams and rivers that empty into it that is responsible.  As an angler who loves to float and fish Virginia’s many beautiful rivers, I cringe when I see new construction along the banks of the James, or the Shenandoah, or the Potomac.  It seems I am cringing more often every year.  I ask you to take the long view and strengthen the general permit for discharges for storm water and construction activities and afford the maximum protection to our waterways.  We must slow and as possible reverse their degradation now.  I am 57 years old and according to research cited by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, I have never in my lifetime seen the bay in a healthy state.  I imagine what Virginia must have been like, and it makes my heart heavy to know that I will never see anything approaching that state.  Please act now to give future generations that opportunity.

In this regard, I support the efforts of the Shenandoah and Potomac Riverkeepers to make storm water pollution prevention plans available to the public for every construction site in Virginia.  Please consider the changes to the Construction General Permit recommended so that Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) are made available to the public for every construction site in the Commonwealth.  Please act to stop sediment runoff now.

I am a licensed physical therapist and a member of the Virginia State Bar, so I am very familiar with the value of government regulation.  I am subject to regulation to protect the public.  Please exercise the state’s power to protect the right of the public to a clean and healthy environment.

Bob Dickinson

rpdickinson@lawyer.com