On March 21, seven members of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition met with Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor and Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, Molly Ward.
Two weeks before the March 21 meeting, VSEC members were arrested after a sit-in at DEQ headquarters where members protested the DEQ permits allowing Dominion Power to dump coal ash wastewater into the James River.
Shortly after, headlines broke that Paylor had accepted gifts from Dominion Power, including a paid trip to the Master’s Golf Tournament in 2013.
“Mr. Paylor and Secretary of Natural Resources, Molly Ward, discussed several issues with the students relating to the water discharge permits for Dominion’s Bremo and Possum Point power stations,” said DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden. “It is important to note that Mr. Paylor is completely open on this subject and is happy to provide information in an appropriate setting.”
University of Virginia sophomore Laura Cross said Paylor indicated at last Monday’s meeting that he would not apologize for the gifts he received from Dominion.
“Paylor argued that the gifts were totally legal, but that if he had to do it over again, he probably wouldn’t have accepted them,” Cross said. “We then asked him if he would apologize for taking the gifts and he said he would not.”
Despite the legality of the permits, Cross said the gifts from Dominion present an ethical concern that may affect Paylor’s ability to act objectively.
“Director Paylor has an obligation to remain unbiased in the regulatory process – taking large gifts from the biggest polluter threatens the integrity of that process,” Cross said. “Our public is experiencing a crisis of faith in the ability of the DEQ to protect our waters and keep us safe.”
University of Mary Washington freshman Drew Shannon said Dominion had too close of a relationship between its regulatory officials.
“Dominion’s influence in Virginia politics is well documented and detrimental to the wellbeing of our state,” Shannon said. “We expect the DEQ and any organization that is responsible the safety of Virginians to hold themselves far above corporate power.”
Hayden said the VSEC students indicated they would ask additional questions they would submit to Paylor and Paylor was open to any questions on the matter.
Staff Writer, Andrew Crider
Andrew is a junior economics major who has written for student newspapers since he was in high school. Andrew is interested in political history, aviation, photography and running. He has a tendency to refer to his peers, coworkers and bosses as “ma’am” or “sir,” but is getting better about referring to his friends at the CT by their first names instead. // Facebook