17 students reportedly arrested in coal-ash wastewater protest in Va.

Water contamination isn't only an issue in Flint, Mich.

Groundwater pollution is now in the spotlight in Virginia, and college students are jumping into the fray.

Students organized by the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition (VSEC), which represents people from over 12 Virginia universities, held a protest at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in Richmond earlier this week to demand that Dominion Resources -- a power and energy company headquartered there -- be prevented from dumping coal-ash wastewater into local rivers in Prince William County.

The sit-in and rally reportedly resulted in 17 people arrested for trespassing as they refused to leave the building by the police deadline of 1 p.m., several hours after the protest began.

Local publication Styleweekly.com reported that in January, the State Water Control Board approved permits to allow the company to "dump treated wastewater from coal ash pits into the James and Potomac Rivers." Dominion Virginia Power last spring released 33.7 million gallons of untreated coal-ash water into Quantico Creek, InsideNoVa.com reported on Feb. 8.

In a news release issued a day after the protest, Dominion said it has reached a settlement agreement with Prince William County “on releasing treated water from coal ash ponds at the company's Possum Point Power Station that will further protect aquatic life, human health and recreational activities on Quantico Creek and the Potomac River.” The agreement means that Prince William County will withdraw an appeal of the DEQ permit, the statement siad, allowing Dominion “to safely and in an environmentally sound manner treat, discharge and monitor pond water as part of a plan to permanently close five ash ponds."

The VSEC is far from satisfied, according to several Facebook posts.

“I think that some politicians are underestimating the level of outcry over environmental issues in the wake of the Flint situation,” Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, told Style Weekly.

Sean Speers is a Paste BN College digital producer

This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.