Roaches Run/Gravelly/Dominion Is Evil Incarnate

[Hoya (Hopeful) Bass Destroya]

Hey all, by now I'm sure everyone is aware of the mineral oil spill in Roaches Run and the role Dominion had to play. Tough week for the Potomac between the spill and the Virginia Water Board decision. Anyways, just wanted to know if anyone's been down to Gravelly since the spill and what if any visible/tangible effects have already taken hold. I've read about the dead waterfowl but heard no mention of any effect on the fish?

[namfos]

Oil is organic. And it biodegrades, just not quickly enough sometimes. Dominion is a corporation, a means of organizing people to achieve some common purpose, each and everyone of them imperfect and prone to making mistakes at some point or another regardless of how often they practice and how stringent the rules are.  Dominion seems too have owned up to their error: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/potomac-oil-spill-came-from-common-source-coast-guard-wont-say-who/2016/02/12/d40802ec-d19e-11e5-b2bc-988409ee911b_story.html

Save the devil incarnate stuff for those who deserve the appellation.

Mark

[TurbineBlade]

I share the same opinion as Mark.  Whenever one of these more 'visible' things happens it does tend to make people angry because it clearly isn't a good thing, but the underlying problem is that there are a crapload of people living here and demanding reasonably-priced electricity. 

The same thing happened about 8 years ago with that busted WASA (now DC Water) pipe over by Kingman Island.  So....we should not have had 50+ years of pumping everyone's sewage out of our crowded streets because pipes eventually wear out?  That's all WASA's fault for not checking the thousands of miles of old pipes well enough prior to the leak?  

Same thing with the Gold mine spill.  What the hell is EPA supposed to do with peoples' garbage dumps leftover from intense mining that people clearly wanted at some point in the past as a source of employment?  That's the worst job ever -- I feel sorry for those poor people who are charged with trying to do something with those sites...

The same is true with public roads and bridges.  Blame DOT instead the millions of people demanding 7 lanes of roads (that they will never pay the true cost for usage) for potholes and disrepair, etc.  

I'll do one right here: 2019 --  Small bridge along GW parkway collapses, damages 2 limos in route to pick up people from DCA.  Citizens demand VDOT's head.  Sources say that VDOT knew of the impending collapse, because VDOT maintenance worker "Bert" wrote in 2013 "you know, this bridge looks kinda old.  We should probably redo it if we ever get any money for it" yet VDOT did nothing about it!  Blah, Blah, Blah.  

Gene

[Andrew R]

Both very fair and valid points, and I have to admit that I was not really looking to debate the viability of modern electrical infrastructure/realities of energy consumption in the DC area. 

My more immediate concern and one with a direct impact on TPFR members is much less contentious and got lost in the title (a poor attempt on my part at humor as I don't truly believe that Dominion truly is evil incarnate, we all know that would be Tony Romo and Jerry Jones). Gravelly Point was the first place I've ever fished and I've had numbers of happy memories there. Even with the issues revolving around wading and law enforcement, I still like to go down there from time to time before work and get a few casts in to start the day. 

So I just want to know what if any effects have been seen at Gravelly as fall out from the spill. Don't really want to start a debate about our area's power companies and infrastructure, just want to know if anyone has fished down there and if so, what they've seen.

[Bob Smith]

The Gold Mine spill falls clearly on the EPA for not doing due diligence on the conditions existing in the mine before attempting the cleanup, according to U.S. Government investigators. But as per usual, no one will be fired, demoted, disciplined or suffer any repercussions. Because they work for the government and that's a free pass these days for any kind of derelict behavior.

[namfos]

Andrew, I'm glad you're a good sport about it; I spouted off because I'm just tired of all sides of all debates going to DEFCON 4 at the drop of a hat. PLus email doesn't have much use for  nuance such as sarcasm, irony, body language and other such subtleties (emoticons, emojis? Bah!)

Mark 

[TurbineBlade]

Hey, at next beer tie we could settle this over a few pints ;). 

Gene