Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) has been working behind the scenes with Sen. Richard Stuart (R-28) to cut a deal that would save state funding for Alexandria, which could be at risk if the city fails to clean up its sewer system by 2020. Senators on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with Alexandria, which dumps more than 10 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River each year.
Ebbin outlined the compromise on a Facebook Live video for Connection Newspapers, explaining that the deal would involve the city committing to a deadline in exchange for keeping state funding.
“We will have an accelerated timetable,” said Ebbin. “But I expect no loss of state funds, which is super important to me, and I’m happy I was able to work that away.”
One senator called the bill a “nuclear option,” an unprecedented threat to withhold all state funding from the city of Alexandria. That threat gave supporters of the bill leverage to negotiate a deal, which Ebbin hopes to work out on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. The discussion deals with complicated regulatory hurdles, although it’s also led to some potty humor. Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36) joked on the Senate floor that the city’s controversial sewer system may be the origin of the snakehead problem.
“We don’t know where they came from,” said Surovell. “We have a strong suspicion that there was some hybrid-driving, latte-sipping, Asian-fish-loving, aquarium lover in Alexandria who put it in their sewer.”
The Senate is set to consider Ebbin’s compromise Thursday afternoon.