Fairfax single use plastic bag fee: Last week, The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Environmental Committee discussed the potential $0.05 plastic bag fee. The general consensus from the BOS members in attendance was that they were not ready to go forward instituting the fee for single use plastic bags until the Department of Taxation provides some clarifications and until the pandemic is under control. While we absolutely disagree with the county’s decision to not work on implementing the single use plastic bag fee, we do not fault them for their concern for Fairfax County residents. Where we do take strong issue is when a member of the Board of Supervisors says, “I tend to like to make my decisions on research and scientific evidence and not political decisions, but uh, there’s not a lot of evidence that plastics and their breakdown are a problem in the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries…Disallowing plastic bags just on the basis that they might be a threat, I gotta, without the back up I have a little bit of a problem”. There is widespread, irrefutable evidence that plastic bags are causing harm in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. If you live in the Springfield District of Fairfax County, this would be a good time to let your Board of Supervisor know about the problems of plastic waste in his district. You can contact him here. You can watch his full remarks, starting at the 18 minute mark. And you can read the study he mischaracterizes here.

We have been long standing advocates for a single use bag fee in Virginia, our consistent advocacy was integral to this fee being passed at the General Assembly. The county has asked us to head a new Litter Task Force, to start a new mask litter education program, how to get a car out of the Potomac, and how to get dumpsters out of the Potomac all in the last couple of months. We were not asked for input before this Environmental Committee meeting. We have provided litter monitoring information for these BOS members, we write a report for the county every year- This leads us to believe they don’t actually want to solve the problem, but continue to push it down the road and pretend to address the growing issue of plastic waste in our county.

Researchers and scientists from around the world have come out to support reusable items. This joint letter states that reuse and refill systems are safe to use during the pandemic and are necessary to fight the plastic crisis. Nothing about single use plastic bags is  safer than your freshly washed reusable bags.

New housing developments in Fairfax County:The Board of Supervisors has recently approved three new housing developments directly in Dulles Airport’s flight path. These three developments will bring 734 new homes to Fairfax County. One of the big claims about these new homes is that many of them will be for families earning 70%-80% of the region’s median income. Planes will fly 950’ over these houses every five minutes, every day. Not only is this a social justice issue, it’s an environmental issue. If you look at the map, you can see the area is valuable green space next to Flatlick Stream Valley Park and Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. Fairfax County needs to conserve green space, rather than asking lower income residents to sign agreements prior to moving in that they won’t complain about the noise.

Tire chemicals killing fish: Researchers in Seattle wanted to figure out why adult coho salmon were dying as soon as they entered urban waters on their journey to spawn. Researchers traced the salmon die-offs to 6PPD-quinone, which is a chemical used to extend tire life.  Anyone who has been on a boat in the Potomac or walked along the banks of our numerous Fairfax’s streams and creeks, knows tires are a problem. Could it be time to start talking about a solution to tire dumping? Maybe a tire deposit scheme, so proper tire disposal rates increase. The problem isn’t just from dumping of tires, as people drive, tires break down and little bits of rubber are washed into storm drains during rainstorms. Improving public transportation and walkability reduces runoff into our waterways. Adding roads doesn’t ease congestion. It’s time to rethink our urban areas without the auto and fossil fuel industries controlling the narrative.  

DEQ to hire an Environmental Justice Director: We often talk about environmental justice problems in Virginia in our blog, we even shared one today. DEQ is not a perfect agency, they have been hampered by unthinkable budget and personnel cuts over the last two decades. This is a good thing for Virginia, the Commonwealth has a long history of ignoring large segments of the population and this is a step in the right direction. As pipelines and plastic facilities are still being pushed forward in Virginia, we need effective advocates in positions of power. Here is the full story about DEQ’s new position.