Vega: Digital Gateway Equivalent to 150 Wal-Mart Super Centers

Message from Supervisor Vega:

 

“Join me in opposing the Digital Gateway CPA Tuesday evening at 7:30 at the James J. McCoart Building, 1 County Complex Court, in Woodbridge.  Many residents don’t understand the sheer size of the proposal, and its equivalence to 150 Wal-Mart super centers.  Taking over this part of northwest Prince William County will also have other negative impacts countywide for present day residents.

Last week, I touched on how the proposal helps to pave the way for the link between 66 and 95 through 234 and Mid-County. Today, I’ll focus on the inevitable impacts the proposal will have on the drinking water and health of residents in Prince William County and throughout the region.

Opening up 2,100 acres to 27.6 million square feet of impervious paved surfaces will cause major sediment runoff into the nearby headwaters of the Occoquan Watershed and Reservoir which provides 60% of Prince William County’s drinking water.

Prudence and common sense would require a water study prior to approving such a plan to know the impact of what you’re approving.

But, strangely, thus far, neither staff or Board leadership has made this connection.

Put more succinctly, they just don’t care.

Repeated requests by Supervisor Lawson and County residents to delay the vote until a water study can be conducted have been ignored.

While Supervisor Lawson and I are Republicans, it’s safe to say that we have been more environmentally sensitive and cognizant to the impacts of land use decisions on our local environment and health and safety of our residents than our counterparts.

Just like you can walk and chew gum, you can also promote commerce and industry while not wreaking havoc on the environment around you – and indeed, downstream.

We spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars developing a Data Center Overlay District in consultation with the data center industry to decide where these large buildings made the most sense.

27.6 million square feet in the Rural Crescent atop where 2,228 men died fighting to preserve the United States was not the right place then, and it’s not the right place now.”