RWSA, RSWA GET NEW EXECUTIVE

Two troubled regional agencies, the Rivanna water and sewer authority and solid waste authority, have their third executive director in a year.

On Monday, Lawrence C. Tropea Jr. will take over from seven-month director Cole Hendrix, who took over from Arthur Petrini.

The RWSA is troubled because it has two directors.   Director Eugene Potter asked the public to trust his intuition at the forum at Monticello HS September 27.

In his experience, no sediment brought to the surface of a reservoir has ever smelled worse than something you might find in a natural ecosystem.

RWSA director Potter declined to answer questions about sediment composition related to health.   But no one had asked the question.

He also explained that RWSA director makes recommendations to the regional board of directors.   The RWSA director then implements decisions taken by city council and county board of supervisors.

It is unclear who is the head of the water authority, Potter or Tropea.

Also troubling is that a reservoir can be allowed to siltate and become a �rice paddy�.   Water is less dense than silt but both are fluids.   Water vapor is lighter than air.   Confidence that a dam will hold back a reservoir of silt is low, especially during high water.

If the sediment is contaminated, the best course of action might be a new reservoir.   No study of toxins in the sediment has been conducted.

In response to possible terrorist attack of a municipal water supply, the agency has secret security measures and has decided to close its website at night to prevent hacking.

Meanwhile, I do not recommend ingesting large quantities of tap water over an extended period of time.   If I were in the market for property down-stream of the Sugar Hollow or South Rivanna reservoir, I would make a lower offer given the uncertainties.

The relationship between the solid waste authority and water authority is that waste can contaminate the water supply by runoff and by underground streams.   The waste authority now transfers waste out of the region with the closing of its last landfill.

Ultimate Dam-Break Disaster
Johnstown, Pa.   May 1889.   35-year-old 70-by-900 foot earthen dam fails during 20-year flood.   2,100 lives lost when 30-foot wall of water travels 15 miles in one hour to Johnstown already under seven feet of water.

©The Witness Report, Issue 2, Thursday October 11, 2001.   Charlottesville, Virginia.

Long-term Weather   |   Archives   |   Index   |   Time Machine

[email protected]