1. ROBERT R. MERHIGE, JR.
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND SCHOOL OF LAW
Professor Noah M. Sachs
Toxic Chemical Policy in
the Commonwealth
3. 0 25 50 75 10012.5
Miles
Waters Under VDH Fish Consumption Advisories
Major River Basins
Chesapeake Bay/Atlantic Ocean and Small Coastal
Chowan River and Dismal Swamp
James River
New River
Potomac River
Rappahannock River
Roanoke and Yadkin Rivers
Shenandoah River
Tennessee and Big Sandy Rivers
York River
Sources: Virginia Department of Health
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
United States Geological Survey
«
Shenandoah River and
North and South Forks
Dan River
Roanoke (Staunton)
River
Potomac River
Tributaries
Levisa Fork
River
Bluestone
River
New River
Wolf Creek
Knox Creek
Smith Mountain
Lake
Meherrin River
Lewis Creek
Bull Run
Rappahannock
River
Lake Anna
James RiverMaury River
Roanoke River
Claytor Lake
Kerr Reservoir
Guest River
Stock Creek
York
River
Beaver Creek
Chesapeake
Bay
Mobjack
Bay
Mattaponi
River
Mountain Run
Eastern Branch
Lynnhaven River
Lake Whitehurst
Little Creek
Tabb Creek
Lake Trashmore
North Fork
Holston River
South River
Lake Gordonsville
Pamunkey
River
Blackwater
River
Great Dismal
Swamp Canal/
Lake Drummond
Dragon Run/
Piankatank River
Last Update: 18 November 2009
final; cls 062112
Identified in the 2012 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Integrated Report
Indian Run
Nottoway River
PCB Fish Consumption Advisories
Mercury Fish Consumption Advisories
PCB and Mercury Fish Consumption Advisories
PCB and Dioxin Fish Consumption Advisories
Kepone Fish Consumption Advisories
Other Waters Impaired for Fish Consumption*
Reedy Creek
Herring Creek
Lovills Creek Lake
Chickahominy Lake
Harrison Lake
Southern Branch
Elizabeth River
Motts Run Reservoir
Chandlers Millpond
Poquoson River
Lake Witten
Big Cherry Reservoir
Emporia Reservoir
* Waters identified by DEQ as unsafe for fish consumption
in addition to waters with VDH advisories.
Lake Gaston
4. Facility Location Pounds
(million)
Sector
BAE Systems (Radford Army
Ammunitions Plant)
Radford 7.70 Metal Product Manufacturing
Accomac Processing Plant (Perdue
Farms, Inc.)
Accomack 2.52 Food Manufacturing
Honeywell Int’l Inc. Hopewell 1.92 Chemical Manufacturing
Philip Morris USA Chester 1.43 Beverage & Tobacco Product
Manufacturing
Jewell Coke Co., L.P. (SunCoke
Energy)
Buchanan 1.31 Petroleum & Coal Product
Manufacturing
Clover Power Station (Dominion) Halifax 1.11 Generating Facility
Chesterfield Power Station
(Dominion)
Chesterfield 1.03 Generating Facility
Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Ops.
Group
Campbell .98 Chemical Manufacturing
Chesapeake Energy Center
(Dominion)
Chesapeake .93 Generating Facility
Amercan Electric Power (Clinch
River Plant)
Russell .92 Generating Facility
2012 Toxic Release Inventory
5. Chemicals Released to Air
(millions)
Chemicals Released to Water
(millions)
Chemicals Released to Land
(millions)
Chemical Pounds Chemical Pounds Chemical Pounds
HCl 4.92 Nitrate Compounds 11.42 Ba & Ba Compounds .83
Ammonia 3.73 Ammonia .098 Mn & Mn Compounds .35
Methanol 1.98 Mn & Mn Compounds .045 V & V Compounds .31
Zinc Compounds 1.22 Nitroglycerin .038 Cu & Cu Compounds .26
H2SO4 1.16 Dimethylamine .037 Zn & Zn Compounds .19
Toluene .89 Ba & Ba Compounds .036 Pb & Pb Compounds .18
Certain Glycol Ethers .51 Cyclohexanol .035 Cr & Cr Compounds .12
H2S .39 Zn & Zn Compounds .017 Ni & Ni Compounds .12
n-Hexane .38 Methanol .011 As & As Compounds .07
Freon 113 .27 N-Methyl-2-
pyrrolidone
.007 Nitroglycerin .03
Other 2.94 Other .017 Other .03
Total 18.40 Total 11.76 Total 2.52
2012 Toxic Release Inventory
10. Paul M. Barrett, A Second Chemical Spilled in West
Virginia and the Company Said Nothing Until Now,
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK (Jan. 23, 2014),
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-23/a-
second-toxic-chemical-spilled-in-west-virginia-and-
freedom-industries-said-nothing-until-now.
Nathan Cushing, James River Association Pushes for
Reform After Oil Spill, RVANEWS.COM (May 20, 2014,
8:14 AM), http://rvanews.com/news/james-river-
association-pushes-for-reform-after-oil-spill/112957.
Press Release, Duke Energy, Update on Dan River
Steam Station Ash Basin Release (Feb. 3, 2104),
available at
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/prnewswire/pr
ess_releases/North_ Carolina/2014/02/03/CL58382.
Emergency Preparedness and Response: 2014 West
Virginia Chemical Release, CTR. FOR DISEASE CONTROL &
PREVENTION,
http://emergency.cdc.gov/chemical/MCHM/westvirgi
nia 2014/ (last visited Apr. 1, 2014).
Emergency Preparedness and Response: Info on MCHM,
CTR. FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION,
http://emergency.cdc.gov/chemical/MCHM/westvirgi
Emergency Preparedness and Response: Info on PPH,
CTR. FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION,
http://emergency.cdc.gov/chemical/MCHM/westvirgi
nia2014/pph.asp (last visited Apr. 1, 2014).
Joanna M. Foster, Two Months After Coal Ash Spill,
Duke Cleaning up the Dan River, THINKPROGRESS (Apr.
1, 2014 12:57 PM),
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/01/3421513/d
uke-begins-clean-up-dan-river/.
Kiley Kroh, The Complete Guide to Everything That’s
Happened Since the Massive Chemical Spill in West
Virginia, THINKPROGRESS (Feb. 9, 2014 12:15 PM),
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/09/
3196981/chemical-spill-timeline/.
Josh Leves & Lateef Mungin, Report: As Many as 35
Killed in Texas Plant Explosion, CNN (Apr. 18, 2013
11:07 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/
texas-explosion/.
NAT’L TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM, REPORT ON CARCINOGENS
(12th ed. 2011).
Sources
11. Laura Parker, A Century of Controversy, Accidents in
West Virginia Chemical Valley in Lead-up to Spill, NAT’L
GEOGRAPHIC DAILY NEWS (Jan. 16, 2014),
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/14
0116-chemical-valley-west-virginia-chemical-spill-coal/.
M.B. Pell, Ryan McNeill & Selam Gebrekidan,
Exclusive: U.S. System for Flagging Hazardous
Chemicals is Widely Flawed, REUTERS (July 8, 2013 9:30
AM), http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/us-
chemical-tierii-idUSBRE9670K720130708.
Catherine E. Shoichet, Spill Spews Tons of Coal Ash
into North Carolina River, CNN.COM (Feb. 9, 2014 6:29
PM), http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/09/us/north-
carolina-coal-ash-spill/.
Matt Smith & Athena Jones, Virginia Train Derailment
Probe Gets Underway, CNN.COM (May 1, 2014),
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/us/virginia-train-
derailment/.
Sources
Editor's Notes
Top industries for on-site releases: (1) Chemical Manufacturing [11.88 million pounds]; (2) Utilities [5.80 million pounds]; Food Manufacturing [3.31 million pounds]. These three sectors accounts for nearly two-thirds of the industrial on-site releases to the environment.
Radford Army Ammunitions Plant in 2011 reported 13 million pounds of toxic releases
Va. Dep’t of Envtl. Quality, 2012 Toxic Release Inventory (2014).
Land releases: Mostly landfill or surface impoundment
Air releases: generally permitted stack emissions
Water releases: 29.62% decrease from 2011 to 2012
Va. Dep’t of Envtl. Quality, 2012 Toxic Release Inventory (2014).
Trip Gabriel, Thousands Without Water After Spill in West Virginia, N.Y. Times, Jan. 11, 2014, at A9, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/us/west-virginia-chemical-spill.html?_r=0. Photo credited to Tyler Evert for the New York Times.
Matt Smith & Athena Jones, Virginia Train Derailment Probe Gets Underway, CNN.com (May 1, 2014), http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/us/virginia-train-derailment/.
Dan River Highly Toxic Due to Duke Energy Coal Ash Spill, Waterkeeper Alliance (Feb. 6, 2014), http://waterkeeper.org/2014/02/06/dan-river-highly-toxic/. Photo credited to Rick Dove.
