BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) – The Bristol, Virginia City Council held a private meeting Friday morning to discuss ongoing work to comply with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) warnings.
The agenda item cited a Virginia law that allows the city to close the session as they speak with legal counsel and brief staff on “actual or probable litigation.”
According to city officials, however, no such lawsuits have been filed by the state.
“This meeting was preemptive in order to update Council on matters that are related to Notice of Violations at the landfill, which we are addressing,” Randall Eads, Bristol, Virginia city manager, said. “Council has granted authority to the City Manager to sign a Consent Order with DEQ.”
Eads said he wasn’t able to share what exactly that consent order would mean for the city, as it hasn’t yet been finalized. In a previous letter to the City, VDEQ listed several possible civil penalties for storm water monitoring violations including fines of $32,500 per day in violation and $100,000 penalties for state water law violations.
In that same letter, VDEQ officials said it is standard policy to avoid lawsuits when corrective steps are taken to fix the issue.
“We continue to have productive conversations with DEQ in order to resolve violations at the landfill,” Eads said.
