Target: David K. Paylor, Director of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Goal: Update and enforce regulations for landfills that pose threat to environment and community health.
For several months, residents of a southwestern Virginia town have endured daily bouts of headaches, nausea, and a host of other health problems. A foul odor has also permeated the air, making conditions eve more miserable. The issues are very likely caused by a local landfill that critics allege has violated several environmental safeguards. The ongoing menace has even prompted a lawsuit from a neighboring city.
Decomposition in landfills creates large amounts of gases like methane. Wells and flares are supposed to manage these gases. The city of Bristol, Virginia, however, is accused of failing to report emissions and of inaction in taking care of equipment that could have diminished these harmful substances.
Sign the petition below to urge Virginia’s leaders to investigate this public health danger and to update a regulation system that is seemingly falling down on the job.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Paylor,
Residents of Bristol and surrounding regions have lived with the consequences of a reported failure of leadership for months. They are frustrated and seemingly literally and figuratively sick from the situation. The thousands of complaints and one lawsuit filed because of the city’s landfill cannot and should not be ignored.
Legal documents against the city allege a failure to report, and perhaps a deliberate attempt to hide, critical emissions information to Virginia’s environmental authorities. These safeguards exist for a reason, and if they were flaunted by bureaucrats, state leadership must take decisive action. Please investigate this incident on behalf of a long-suffering community.
Most importantly, ensure your regulation system is robust and strong enough to prevent further environmental and public health hazards.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Tom Fisk
America needs to clean up its trash! America needs to rid itself of single use plastic! Presidents need to take a grip on this waste which pollutes communities and communities need to use other materials. Former presidents need to answer for this trash as well. Trump denied everything and didn’t do anything to help America clean up. Everyone is responsible and accountable, all of us. From the corporations, to business, to consumers for we are all guilty. We either change our habits or we die due to climate change and our own laziness.