Fairfax County staff are seeking additional funding to hire more personnel who could help expedite ongoing and future flood mitigation projects across the county.
However, with the county facing increasing financial challenges, worsened by inflation and reduced commercial tax revenue, some members of the Board of Supervisors said at a recent land use committee meeting that they are reluctant to commit to expanding the budget’s list of indefinite expenditures.
Fairfax County’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) is working to develop a new 20-year plan for managing solid waste.
The county produces roughly 1.2 million tons of trash every year, processing about 630,000 tons as municipal solid waste (MSW). Currently, about 43.9% of waste is diverted from incineration. However, the county adopted a Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) that set a goal of 90% diversion by 2040.
The Spring Hill Rec Center in McLean is now being partly powered by the sun.
The Fairfax County Park Authority announced today (Thursday) that it has turned on a new, 307-kilowatt solar panel array on the roofs of the recreation center’s gym and indoor swimming pool at 1239 Spring Hill Road.
In Fairfax County, sheep mow lawns, beekeepers remove misplaced swarms and gardeners teach the community.
The Town of Vienna will feature organizations that do all that and more at its annual Green Expo at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE). Sponsored by the town’s Conservation and Sustainability Commission, the expo is set for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 18 — four days before Earth Day.
(Updated 4/17) Fairfax County is moving forward with a new ordinance change that would step up the preservation of mature trees, shorelines and wetlands.
The change is part of bringing Fairfax County in line with state revisions to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Arena Designation and Management Regulations that were adopted by the State Water Control Board.
The county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services launched a solar panel recycling program last week, expanding upon its November 2022 pilot program.
Daniel Brooks, an environmental services specialist at the county’s Solid Waste Management Program, said this new program falls under their electronic recycling program, which focuses on prevention.
Clean-up efforts are underway at Fort Belvoir after a truck overturned near its airfield yesterday (Wednesday), spilling thousands of gallons of jet fuel and temporarily closing part of Richmond Highway.
Fort Belvoir Fire and Emergency Services and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched to the Davison Army Airfield (6954 Britten Drive) around 6:30 p.m. in response to an overturned government fuel truck.
An arts-inspired Earth Day celebration is coming to Reston Town Center.
Organized by the Reston Town Center Association and Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, the inaugural event on April 20 will feature a variety of activities, including a special art installation at the Mercury Fountain Plaza by Arkansas-based artist Danielle Hatch.
To further its environmental goals, Fairfax County’s to-do list should include building an electric vehicle charging network, addressing “critical” staff shortages, and addressing development pressure, the Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) says in a new report.
An employee compensation policy update to attract and retain workers in departments such as wastewater and solid waste was the top recommendation in the 2023 Annual Report on the Environment (ARE), EQAC Chair Larry Zaragoza told the Board of Supervisors during its environmental committee meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 29).
(Updated at 5:05 p.m. on 2/29/2024) Fairfax County’s supervisors believe that grassland birds deserve a safe nesting ground, even if it’s atop a former landfill.
The Board of Supervisors directed county staff on Feb. 20 to work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia to identify areas within the I-95 Landfill Complex (9850 Furnace Road) in Lorton where mowing can be minimized to protect grassland birds during their nesting season.
