Va. highway contractor sued over dirt runoff

Feb. 10, 2010
A HOT-lane contractor in Virginia is in hot water. Make that muddy water.

Flour-Lane LLC, a joint venture handling the construction of high-occupancy toll lanes through 14 miles on the Beltway, is being sued by environmental group Potomac Riverkeeper for excessive dirt running off the site and into the Accotink Creek.

“This site is terrible,” Ed Merrifield, head of the Potomac Riverkeeper, told the Washington Post. “Something has to be done.”

A HOT-lane contractor in Virginia is in hot water. Make that muddy water.

Flour-Lane LLC, a joint venture handling the construction of high-occupancy toll lanes through 14 miles on the Beltway, is being sued by environmental group Potomac Riverkeeper for excessive dirt running off the site and into the Accotink Creek.

“This site is terrible,” Ed Merrifield, head of the Potomac Riverkeeper, told the Washington Post. “Something has to be done.”

The project has been mired in violations over the past year and a half. According to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, inspectors have red-flagged the site seven times, with the last coming in January due to failures in systems designed to stop dirt-laden rainwater.

Potomac Riverkeep said dirt running off the Beltway jobsite should be trapped through the use of settling ponds or small dams made of rocks.

Fluor-Lane released a statement on Feb. 9 stating the project is “adhering to any and all local, state and federal environmental requirements.”

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