NEW: Virginia Attorney General sues City of Bristol for violations of environmental law due to landfill
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed a civil suit Friday against the City of Bristol for violations related to the landfill and its ongoing odor problems.
The Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Waste Management Board, and the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board are parties to the suit along with the state seeking sanctions and other relief due to the smelly controversy that was first examined by state authorities in December 2020.
In the suit, Miyares asks for a civil penalty of $32,000 per day to be imposed for those violations until those specific areas of concern are corrected.
A full copy of the lawsuit is available for review by clicking here.
The pressure from the state is now the second major piece of litigation facing Bristol Virginia officials. A suit is already pending in federal court that was brought by neighboring Bristol, Tennessee for similar air quality violations that have impacted their communities.
Here is the complete statement issued by Miyares’ office Friday afternoon:
“Attorney General Jason Miyares today filed a lawsuit on behalf of his clients, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Waste Management Board, and the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board against the City of Bristol, Virginia, seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties for violating the Commonwealth’s environmental laws and regulations at the Bristol Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility. The civil action was filed this afternoon in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond.
This is now ongoing litigation, and the Office of the Attorney General has no further comment.”
Bristol Virginia leaders authorized a response that was issued late Friday:
“The City of Bristol welcomes the opportunity to accomplish its landfill remediation objectives in cooperation with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and Department of Environmental Quality, and the City of Bristol has insisted that a Virginia court case is a necessary and important procedural step. It will provide the opportunity for public notice that we hope will give the public confidence in our remediation work at the landfill.
Long before today’s filing, Bristol VA began an unprecedented construction effort on the rock quarry landfill to remediate odors, including:
Construction of a sidewall odor mitigation system that will run the entirety of the rock quarry landfill;
Upgrades of the wells and pumps within the landfill;
Implementation of additional cover over the waste;
Intensive mapping and measurement of the landfill;
And the ultimate installation of a cover.
This lawsuit provides an opportunity for the parties to reach an agreement on a consent decree that will resolve outstanding issues with the Commonwealth’s regulators and place Bristol’s landfill remediation efforts and timeline into a court order.
The landfills owned by Bristol VA are longstanding and for years accepted waste from Bristol VA, Bristol TN, and the surrounding communities. Bristol VA greatly appreciates the amount of time and effort Virginia OAG & DEQ have put into helping us identify necessary remediation efforts and achievable timelines that will best serve the citizens of our community. We are fully committed to addressing and resolving challenges at the Bristol quarry landfill in an environmentally sound manner.”
