RICHMOND, Va. — The widespread water crisis that engulfed the Richmond metro area earlier this month was completely avoidable and never should have happened, according to a damning Notice of Alleged Violation issued to the City of Richmond by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), a warning which also states the city may have broken state law.
“The City of Richmond could have prevented the crisis with better preparation, by verifying critical equipment was functional before the storm event, ensuring sufficient staffing was physically present at the WTP in the event of a power outage, and making sure staff present at the WTP during the storm event had appropriate training to effectively respond to the temporary power outage,” states the notice, issued Thursday by the VDH Office of Drinking Water (ODW).
Listed in the report are more than two dozen observations, legal requirements, and requested corrective actions from ODW staff, who said they were not informed about the critical situation at Richmond’s water treatment plant on Douglasdale Road, which was the epicenter of the crisis, until more than seven hours after the plant suffered a catastrophic system failure…