Waste, by definition, is stuff that is not wanted. Where do Virginians send the stuff they don't want? We recycle some of it, but we put the rest into the air, ground, or water. Waste may go out of sight, and out of mind, but waste does not go away.
The first sanitation law in Virginia was issued in 1610, as part of the "Lawes Devine, Morall, and Martiall:"
Especially since the 1960's, Federal and state laws and regulations have been increasingly strict on controlling how waste is managed. Even the Defense Department has finally agreed to minimize pollution from its facilities in Virginia, saying in an October 19, 2000 news release that "our bases are not islands in the middle of nowhere..."
As a result, backyard dumps, "straight pipes" from toilets and manufacturing plants to rivers, and inefficient treatment facilities have been replaced by relatively-expensive treatment plants. at the same time, we are still spreading waste (biosolids) on agricultural fields for "soil conditioner."
Few communities welcome the development or expansion of waste management facilities nearby. Those who object to facilities being built in their neighborhood may be driven by self-interest, but who is that surprising? There are numerous acronyms for those who object to locating LULU's (Locally Unwanted Land Uses) such as dumps, incinerators, sewage treatment plants, etc. in a particular area. NIMBY stands for "Not in My Back Yard," BANANA stands for "Build Absolutely Nothing Near Anyone" - and NOPE stands for "Not on Planet Earth."
One political issue is the claim that unwelcome public facilities are concentrated in areas with high concentrations of poor and minority residents. "Environmental justice" advocates contend that the placement of public facilities reflects underlying racism, while others debate the claim or suggest that low land acquisition costs are the primary determinant (not racism) for locating such facilities.
There are cases where the LULU's are closer to the rich than the poor. For example, the upper-class Montclair community in Prince William County is located downstream from the county landfill. Powells Creek drains the landfill area before it flows into Lake Montclair. Houses with lakefront property have a higher value, and the development has a popular beach where kids swim in the lake... and in the lake will be any leachate that flowed downstream from the landfill.
