Authority to join statewide water treatment effort

By Brian McNeill

Published: July 28, 2008

The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority will join a consortium of wastewater treatment facilities that aims to reduce Virginia’s nitrogen and phosphorous pollution into the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The water authority’s board of directors voted unanimously on Monday to join the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange Association.

The nonprofit association of 110 public and private wastewater treatment facilities was established by the General Assembly in 2005 as a forum for the state’s facilities to buy and sell “credits” of nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients. If a wastewater plant in the Chesapeake Bay watershed discharges more nutrients than its limit, it can purchase credits from other plants that are discharging less than the maximum amount allowed.

After the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority wraps up a $45 million overhaul of its Moore’s Creek wastewater plant in 2012, the authority’s nitrogen and phosphorous discharges will be greatly reduced. As a result, the authority will likely free up nitrogen and phosphorous credits that it can sell to other plants, bringing in an estimated $50,000 to $75,000 per year.

“This will give us cleaner water and the ability to sell nutrient credits to other facilities,” said Thomas L. Frederick Jr., executive director of the water and sewer authority.

Money for FOIA requests

In other business at the water authority’s meeting Monday afternoon, Frederick told the board of directors that he may need an additional $10,000 to cope with a recent torrent of complex requests for documents under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.

Over the past four months, Frederick said, the authority has seen a “dramatic” increase in the number of requests under FOIA, a law that requires public entities to provide documents upon request unless a document is specifically exempted by the law.

Frederick said the requests have been unusually broad and time consuming, requiring more staff time and research. He did not characterize the nature of the requests. However, the authority has lately found itself under the public’s microscope because of a debate over whether or not to dredge the silt-filled South Fork Rivanna Reservoir.

A 13-member task force of various stakeholders is being formed to study the issue. Dredging, proponents say, would improve water quality and boost the community’s water supply for years to come.

Colette Hall, a Charlottesville resident, told the water authority that she would prefer to see the authority stop studying the issue and move forward. “I wish that we could get on with the dredging,” she said.

Check fraud scheme

Also at Monday’s meeting, Lonzy E. Wood, the authority’s director of finance/administration, told the board that the authority has been dealing with a widespread check fraud scheme.

Beginning in November, he said, banks started calling the authority about suspicious — though official looking — checks from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.

Apparently, Wood said, someone either intercepted an official check or created forgeries, complete with a replica of his signature.

A thief or thieves sought to cash the checks at banks in Virginia, West Virginia, Texas, Kansas, California and elsewhere.

The authority contacted the FBI and the Albemarle County Police Department about the scam. So far, Wood said, no one has been arrested.

Luckily, he said, none of the checks was cashed. “No losses occurred,” Wood said. “We caught all of them.”