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found that Vepco had not done all that was “possible or necessary" to prevent the spill.
The investigator, Steven C. Williams, properly lodged a formal complaint with his superiors about the Vepco draft letter on Oct. 15, the day it was circulated for staff comments.
Other members of the Water Control Board Staff also voiced complaints, and in the end the letter was toned down to a degree. The Vepco-suggested assurance that the utility’s controls were adequate was deleted, but Mr. Davis refused to go along with a staff recommendation that the letter include a statement making it clear the toxic substance readings at the site were too high.
The whole episode is disturbing.
The Water Control Board is a regulatory agency to which the citizens of the state are entitled to look for the protection of their water resources and themselves. The thought that it can be manipulated so easily by potential polluters is less than reassuring.
Beyond that, the age-old problem in Virginia obviously is still with us. The romance between the members of our corporate community and the state agencies which are supposed to regulate them continues in full flower.
But when our corporations actually look to a regulatory agency for protection when they violate the regulations the agency is sworn to enforce, then that is going a bit too far. When an agency willingly agrees to provide that protection, the romance is clearly out of hand.
To the extent that this kind of thing is going on, it’s time for the governor to step in and clean house.
The Water Control Board might be a good place to start.
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