June 10, 2022
The
Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ water quality work session June 7th
concluded on a less than reassuring note. Don’t worry about it.
Board
Chair Ann Wheeler seemed content when the Department of Environmental Quality’s
Northern Regional Director opined that existing regulations could contain the
negative impacts from the proposed Prince William Digital Gateway data center
development. This is a premature judgment, especially considering that DEQ
declined to participate in the CPA review process. Never mind that. Their
answer was handy.
The
county is already on record acknowledging salinity issues in the Occoquan
reservoir. Prince William County Director of Public Works Thomas Smith, in his
memo of November 22, 2021, wrote: “The current pollutants of concern like
increasing salinity will require additional studies to determine how best to
address the issue and they will need to be addressed at a regional level.”
In
its third review of the Digital Gateway application dated May 5, Prince William’s
Watershed Management Branch recommends that the county’s comprehensive plan
“remain unchanged,” in other words, that the application not be approved.
Additionally, the watershed management branch said it supports additional study
of the development’s impacts as outlined in a May 18, 2021 board resolution
(number 21-327).
A
water study would seem prudent considering the magnitude of the proposal. So
why does the board resist one when its own staff recommends it? Why is the
board even considering this environmentally sensitive area for data centers
when there is ample land to develop in the existing overlay district? The
answers lie in whose interests this board is serving.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
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