RICHMOND — Virginia lawmakers on Wednesday voted against an amendment from Gov. Bob McDonnell that local officials said could delay improvements of leaky oil storage tanks at a Fairfax City site.
In response to problems at the Pickett Road tank farm in Fairfax City, Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, and Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, pushed through the General Assembly legislation that would give tank-farm owners until 2021 to restore tanks built prior to 1992 so they conform to current design requirements, like having double bottoms to prevent leaks.
But McDonnell added an amendment that would instead direct the state water control board to review such requirements and, if necessary, develop additional regulations to prevent leaks.
A McDonnell spokesman told the Washington Post that the amendments could allow the board to put in new regulations immediately, but the Mantua Citizens’ Association and Fairfax City have written to the governor opposing the measure, the Post reported.
Both the House and Senate did reject the amendment Wednesday, but McDonnell can still veto the original measure.
Problems at the Pickett Road site have plagued the area for some time. In the early 1990s, a massive oil plume leaking from a tank at the site spread into the neighboring Mantua neighborhood.
