Radford plant is state's biggest polluter

Comment: Loose environmental standards from the EPA are ruining our Waters!!

Wastewater emissions from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant are within guidelines.

By Laurence Hammack The Roanoke Times

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For the second year in a row, the Radford Army Ammunition Plant is the state's biggest polluter.

The plant, which manufactures propellant for the U.S. armed forces, released about 13 million pounds of emissions into the New River in 2007, according to a Toxics Release Inventory produced Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Quality.

That's more than twice the amount from the facility that placed second on the list, the Chesterfield Power Station in central Virginia.

Despite the large numbers, the Radford plant is in compliance with limits set by the EPA and DEQ for wastewater emissions, according to DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden.

"Even though we're in compliance, and even though this is part of what we do, it is still something we want to reduce," said Rob Davie, the plant operations chief.

The plant has spent millions trying to reduce its emissions in recent years, he said.

Also known as the Radford Arsenal, the plant is run by ATK Alliant Techsystems. For years, it had fared much better on the Toxics Release Inventory, an annual list that tracks emissions from more than 400 factories, utilities and power plants across the state.

But last year, arsenal officials discovered they had been underreporting their numbers. After correcting the calculations used to make reports to DEQ, the arsenal more than quadrupled its totals -- and rose to the top of the list.

In 2006, the plant released 13.7 million pounds of toxins, according to the inventory. In 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available, the level rose to 13.8 million pounds.

More than 99 percent of the releases from the plant are nitrates, a byproduct of a manufacturing process that relies heavily on acids.

While the plant may have ranked higher in previous years had it not been for the underreporting, Hayden said it would be difficult to reconfigure past lists.

Because the arsenal reported such higher numbers last year, the statewide total of all on-site emissions rose by 16 percent in 2006. This year's report, which tracked emissions from 2007, showed a 4 percent decease in on-site emissions.

The trend in recent years -- not counting the quirk from 2006 -- has shown reduced emissions, Hayden said.

The DEQ's list of polluters is based on estimates submitted by the facilities; it does not measure the public's exposure to chemicals or make assessments of the risks associated with them.

Other Western Virginia facilities that ranked high on the list include the MeadWestvaco plant in Covington, which ranked third, and the Glen Lyn power plant in Giles County, which came in at 15th.

Maria Bowling, head of the Sierra Club's New River Valley chapter, said environmentalists have been concerned about the arsenal's emissions for years.

"It's mind-boggling to me," Bowling said. "Our DEQ gives them permission to dump all of these millions of pounds of stuff into the water and the air."

Arsenal officials say they are committed to protecting the environment. But Bowling wonders what can be done to hold them more accountable.

Even the bad publicity that comes with being labeled the state's biggest polluter may not be enough, she said.

"There is no stigma if people don't pay attention," Bowling said. "So if people don't press them, nothing will happen."