Waste Management in Virginia Waste Management in Virginia Waste, by definition, is stuff that is not wanted. We recycle some of it, but we put the rest into the air, ground, or water. Waste may go out of sight, and out of mind, but waste does not go away. The first sanitation law in Virginia was issued in 1610. Especially since the 1960's, Federal and state laws and regulations have been increasingly strict on controlling how waste is managed.
Few communities welcome the development or expansion of waste management facilities nearby.
One political issue is the claim that unwelcome public facilities are concentrated in areas with high concentrations of poor and minority residents. There are cases where the LULU's are closer to the rich than the poor. For example, the upper-class Montclair community in Prince William County is located downstream from the county landfill. Powells Creek drains the landfill area before it flows into Lake Montclair. West Virginia incidents also.