Safeguarding natural resources
Environmental laws and regulations form a complex system in our country, at the local, state, and federal levels. But at their heart, environmental laws aim to protect public health and safeguard natural resources.
Warren Eadus is WithersRavenel’s Practice Area Lead for our Environmental Department. A licensed geologist with more than 25 years of experience in the environmental industry, Warren has seen the evolution of regulations over time. Ultimately though, Warren says that laws are generally born out of need.
Health and natural resources
Sanitation was a big driver of many of our state and nation’s laws regarding the protection of water, air, surface water, and groundwater. These are resources that everyone relies on to live their lives. Before environmental laws were in place, individuals or businesses could damage soil, air, groundwater, or waterways through pollution without fear of recourse. The compromising of these natural resources was the impetus behind the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also inspired many early environmental regulations.
“People are living their lives or they’re manufacturing something and then what they’re dumping damages the soil or the groundwater or the surface water or the vegetation that’s a common resource, then we’ve got a problem,” Warren says. “And so laws have developed over the decades to protect those common resources because what you do ends up impacting your neighbor, and all of us.”
Changes in laws
Warren pointed out some societal pivot points over time. These moments led to changes of laws in the United States and worldwide. Silent Spring, the 1962 book by Rachel Carson, documented the dangers of heavy pesticide use to people, animals and the environment. It is often credited with helping birth the EPA. The gas leak from a pesticide leak at a plant in Bhopal, India, in 1984 killed more than 3,800 people. It affected thousands of others and prompted worldwide laws on chemical reporting, permitting, and awareness.
“These things make people wake up and go, ‘Wait a minute. If we don’t tighten up some aspects of what we’re doing, we will really suffer as a society,’” Warren says. “It doesn’t just impact you once you get something in the groundwater. Once you impact the soil or the air or the river, it impacts everybody. So there has to be some accountability.”
These wake-up calls prompted laws designed to hold polluters accountable. They also hopefully improve existing sites, too.
Brownfields properties
Warren spoke about brownfields, which are often former business properties that are no longer utilized due to contamination or pollution from prior uses. Laws, funding streams, and tax incentives aim to assess, remediate, and return brownfield sites to productive use for the betterment of the public. Furthermore, it helps in the expansion of tax rolls.
Another reason for environmental laws is safeguarding natural resources. We only have so much groundwater, and there is a finite amount of land. Laws to protect these resources ensure they are free from pollution. They are designed to conserve or preserve them with the current and future generations in mind.
“As a society, our quality of life is not just about our wallets—our quality of life is also tied to the environment,” Warren says. “And if we don’t have clean air, if we don’t have clean water, if we don’t have good soil, good agricultural lands, and we pollute everything, then what do we have?
Services based on environmental laws
Many of the environmental services that WithersRavenel provides for public and private clients are based on environmental legislation. For example, our firm serves the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) through a contract to mitigate underground storage tank (UST) pollution. Whether it is a gas station or a business that uses large amounts of fuel, these tanks are stored underground to keep the temperature down, the fuel stable, and to better utilize space.
Unfortunately, these USTs can leak. Also, when a business closes, those tanks can go years without being thought about or monitored. The state administers the cleanup of these USTs and sites through fees paid by all tank owners. WithersRavenel environmental experts assist with tank removal and assessing and remediating the soil and groundwater at these sites.
“Nobody wants to drink gasoline or diesel,” Warren says. “And even in the parts per billion, these contaminants can damage your drinking water, and get into rivers and streams and impair the places we love.”
WithersRavenel also provides landfill monitoring services. Warren spoke about how, until the early 1980s, landfills were largely unlined. For many decades, communities were just dumping their waste, covering it with dirt, and repeating the process. The goal was simply to cover the stink and keep animals out. Little consideration was given to groundwater and soil pollution or other hazards. Today, the state of North Carolina has monitoring standards in place for landfills and laws to ensure that waste does not leach out. WithersRavenel helps local governments monitor these sites and ensure their safe use.
Additional services provided by our environmental team were also borne out of regulations to protect the environment. Threatened and endangered species surveys help to safeguard rare animals. Waters of the US (wetlands, rivers and streams) delineation and identification safeguard waterways and sensitive habitats during the development process.
Seeking balance
Ultimately, the goal of our environmental services practice area is to foster development (and redevelopment) that adheres to environmental laws and protects our common resources and conserves the spaces we all love for the future. Warren says that property rights and environmental conservation and preservation can exist in tandem. This challenge is best achieved by following existing regulations with an eye toward the future.
“We generally all agree that we should have clean air, clean water, and clean soil,” Warren said.
Do you want to put WithersRavenel’s environmental team to work for you on your next project? Contact Warren at 828-255-0313 or weadus@withersravenel.com.
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