As a result of a legal consent order between Arlington County Government and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that enforces EPA clean water standards, Arlington County was forced in 2001 to upgrade its sewage treatment plant that was sending treated effluent with high levels of nitrogen into the Potomac and ultimately into the Cheaspeake Bay. So much for Arlington’s reputation as “protector of the Bay.”

Rather than boldly stepping forward to improve Arlington wastewater, the County Democratic Board had to be dragged into a legal consent order by DEQ and EPA to meet its clean water obligations to help save the Bay. Is this the Democrats commitment to the enviroment–wait till you are being sued–to clean up your act?

Nevertheless, this welcome step in markedly improving Arlington wastewater may be over-whelmed by the relentless development in Arlington that brings in more thirsty commercial and residential developments. High rise buildings produce prodigious amounts of waste water from their cooling towers and toilets and sinks.

For example, there are a half-dozen high rise building being built in the Potomac Yards area on Jeff Davis Highway just outside the gates of the Arlington treatment facility on S. Glebe Road that will add alone 0.5 million gallons of waste water daily taking up 1 percent of Arlington treatment capacity.
Every high rise building built in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor adds similar large amounts of wastewater.

Question: Will continue commercial and residential development in Arlington overwhelm Arlington’s new sewage treatment plant that will not even come on line until 2011?

Arlington County is modernizing its sewage treatment plant (”water pollution control plant”) in an elaborate $560 program that will bring a new plant on line by 2011 (within 3 years). The plant will reduce the nitrogen in treated sewage from 8 mg/liter to the EPA standard of 3 mg/liter. (See http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/environmentalservices for the fact sheet).

The capacity of the new plant will be 40 million gallons daily, up from a listed 30 million gallon capacity currently. Currently the plant operates at 100 percent or more of this 30 million gallons; during heavy rainfall, the plant has to release untreated sewage. So, actually the plant capacity is closer to 32 milion gallons daily or higher. Twenty percent of sewage treated comes from Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax County–so only 80 percent of the sewage comes from Arlington.

The EPA requires that treatment plants operate at no more than 95 percent of full capacity. For the new plant, this means a new usable capacity of 38 million gallons. The county indicates that the new 40 million capacity expands current plant of 30 million gallons by 33 percent, and will meet expected Arlington’s needs until the year 2020 or for the next 12 years.

However, if one uses 32 million gallons as the current capacity and considerd that only 38 million of the new 40 million gallon capacity should be used following EPA standards, the increase in capacity is closer to 19 percent. The new plant comes on line in 3 years from now.

Will the 19-percent de facto capacity increase last for the next 12 years or will it be overwhelmed as more water-intensive development occurs? Then, how much will Arlington taxpayers have to spend to upgrade the plant in 2020, and where will it be built since the current plant site is now fully taken up by the new facility?

The Democratic incumbent Ms. Favola insisted at our candidates’ debate before the Arlington Civic Federation that a new Columbia Pike Trolley would save energy and encourage further development on the Pike.  There have been many technical studies done on the proposed Pike trolley, and it is clear that a trolley will not necessarily speed or ease Arlington commuters ride to/from the Pentagon.

Arlington County Government and Ms. Favola argue that a trolley is more “Green,” i.e. saves carbon based energy over current buses or over using the larger rapid transit buses.  Academic studies have reached different conclusions, depending on how many passengers ride, frequency, and cost  of installing light rail in the ground.  In general, taking into account all the energy used to operate and to install and build a trolley system,  buses are more energy efficient.

It appears that a fully loaded bus uses on average less operating energy (BTUs) per passenger mile than does light rail per passenger mile, and about the same energy as heavy rail like Metrorail.  Source: M.J. Bradley & Associates, May 2007, Comparison of  Energy Use and Emissions from Different Transportation Modes, submitted to American Bus Association, , p. 4.

Moreover, many ART and Metro buses are now burning clean natural  gas (CNG) with very little emissions and higher efficiency than diesel.  Electricity for the trolley will come from the new coal-fired Dominion Electric plant located in Wise, VA, that will use coal mined from mountain tops in VA and WVA.  Coal-fired electricity contributes to significant air pollution and to destruction of natural mountains.  It also adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than CNG.  The VA Green Party opposes the construction of Wise coal-fire electricity plant.

One must also add the amount of energy it will take to build a light rail system on Columbia Pike which will include moving all the underground utility lines under the Pike, resurfacing with asphalt and cement (all of which are very energy intensive). The energy incorporated in the steel rails, and in the cooper overhead power lines that will have to be added.  The energy bulldozers and earth movers will use to relocate utility lines must be included.  The energy it takes to manufacture a trolley car and a bus are probably about the same or might favor the  bus.   Steel, copper wire, cement and asphalt have become very expensive owing to higher commodity and petroleum prices over the past several years.

My understanding is that the estimated $150 million cost of the trolley (including  that portion in Fairfax County up to Skyline) does NOT  include the cost of replacing utility lines under the Pike.

This is technical argument as to energy savings that depends on your assumptions, but Favola’s contention that a trolley obviously uses less energy than buses is dubious. More  importantly, the County has not satisfied the U.S. DOT or they would have received federal funds.  If DOT thinks the trolley is unsound, it probably is.

Ms. Favola did accurately acknowledge that a trolley is really a development booster for land on or just off the Pike.  In other words, public money will be used to increase the value of land around or on the Pike benefitting land owners or developers who own it.  Why should our county government use scarce dollars better spent on a new Wakefield High School or modest apartments for frail elderly  or  the disabled and give it to rich landowners or corporations?

Favola also fails to acknowledge the obvious fact that higher priced land will eliminate the last remaining moderate rental apartments, Fillmore Gardens or Barcroft Apartments, for example.  This is exactly what happened in north Arlington along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.  Favola and the other county board members want to turn Columbia Pike into another Rosslyn-Ballston high rise luxury housing and upscale living.

Is this fair that county public funds be used to contribute to eviction of moderate rental residents or to much higher rents for these folks?  After all, it is their taxes as well that are being given to developers.  No, it is unfair, and a misuse of scarce public dollars.