Virginia government shuts down as hospitals, residents hit by colossal water plant failure

A failure at a water treatment plant threw North America’s oldest continuous legislative body into crisis this week, as lawmakers were left out of Virginia State Capitol for security reasons.

In the rest of Richmond, residents faced water shortages and hospitals had to use tanker trucks to provide the water needed not only to calm patients, but also to provide heat and disinfect medical instruments , according to a state lawmaker.

The right-wing group Virginia Project said the crisis may be reason for the Legislature to take an immediate interest in infrastructure funding, before offering a Confederate-era suggestion:

“Maybe the legislature without water should retreat to Appomattox,” said a social media post from the group, referring to the community about 100 miles southwest of the Capitol — where the Confederate States of America based in Richmond surrendered to the Union in April 1865.

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Others, like Virginia Republican Party Chairman Richard Anderson, blamed the recently deceased Democratic mayor who is now running for lieutenant governor.

“(The crisis is) a direct result of the inept leadership of former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who presided over his city’s crumbling infrastructure,” Anderson said.

“Stoney like LG? Never.”

The crisis hit less than a week after the current Democratic mayor, Dr. Danny Avula, took office.

Avula, formerly a pediatrician at Chippenham Hospital in neighboring Chesterfield County, said he has been around since the water system first failed.

Avula said he spent much of Tuesday night at the city plant and announced Wednesday morning that some of the pumps are starting to come online.

“We’re starting to see the reservoir level fill up. It’s really encouraging. Right now, the reservoir level is at 7 feet for some context. (Our) reservoirs normally run at about 18 feet “.

Avula’s work earned him bipartisan praise, including from a prominent Republican.

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State Sen. Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg, chairman of the Senate GOP caucus, said he had never seen a legislative session start with such chaos in his 21 years at the Capitol.

“Congratulations to the new mayor for his tireless efforts to resolve this legacy crisis,” he told X, before taking to Twitter.

State Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, told Fox News Digital that the water outage affected his work doubly, as both the Capitol and his district office in nearby Mechanicsville felt the effects.

McDougle said the extent of the outage has extended beyond Richmond’s borders and into Henrico and Hanover counties to the north and east. Constituents have contacted his office for help.

McDougle praised Gov. Glenn Youngkin for being “extremely aggressive in trying to find solutions to the problem that was created in the city” and offered the same for suburban county officials.

“(We’re) trying to make sure we’re getting water to infrastructure like hospitals, so they can continue to treat patients and make water available to citizens so they can take care of their families.

“But this has been a real effort on behalf of state government and local jurisdictions trying to help Richmond.”

He said Avula is not to blame for the crisis as he only took office days ago.

“It’s a shame this has to be his first week,” McDougle said.

“But we need to really investigate and get to the bottom of how (the Stoney administration) could have let this become such a serious problem that it would affect so many people.”

McDougle County schools were closed Wednesday and the legislature adjourned until Monday after leaders and staff worried that the fire suppression system at the iconic Capitol could malfunction without enough flow. water

McDougle noted that while caution is prudent, Virginia’s place as the oldest continuous legislature obviously predates public services, and that the people’s work can and should be done as possible while the Capitol is out of order.

Another state lawmaker laid the blame at the feet of Richmond’s Democratic leadership.

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Del Wren Williams, R-Stuart, said Richmond has been a city “plagued by systemic neglect and lack of accountability.”

“Now, Stoney wants to be our Commonwealth’s next lieutenant governor. Despite the city’s growing infrastructure needs, Richmond Democrats allowed critical issues like water pollution and aging pipes to fester, leaving residents vulnerable to unsafe drinking water and deteriorating public health,” Williams said. .

He previously proposed a bill that would have allowed state agencies to study utility upgrades and provide engineering support.

With Democrats in marginal control of the Legislature and hoping to prevent Youngkin’s Rep. Winsome Sears from succeeding him in November, Williams said the crisis is emblematic of the Democrats’ “biggest failure … to Virginia, where promises of progress and equity often ring hollow when the actual reality is neglecting the task of maintaining essential services.”

Richmond businessman Jimmy Keady echoed Williams, telling Fox News Digital that the crisis is not just a failure of infrastructure but of the city’s previous leadership:

“For almost 48 hours, businesses were forced to close. Residents were left without clean water and hourly workers lost wages,” Keady said.

“The political implications are just as serious,” added Keady, who is also a political consultant.

He noted that the Virginia legislature is only in session for a few months and referenced how lawmakers must explicitly pass resolutions to extend business beyond the end of a term.

“By losing nearly 11 percent in this short session, Virginia lawmakers are losing valuable time to pass legislation that will address growing issues throughout our community, including economic growth, rising medical costs and, of course, aging infrastructure.”

Richmond’s water supply comes primarily from the James River.

Fox News Digital reached out to Stoney’s campaign and House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth. Avula could not be reached.

Speaking Wednesday afternoon, Youngkin praised public and private partners in the Capital Region who have helped residents deal with water shortages, from Avula to companies like Amazon and Publix.

“The collaboration of the surrounding counties with the City of Richmond and state resources has been truly inspiring. Not only have Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield counties brought all of their emergency management expertise to bear, but their resources”.

“They all mobilized fire trucks in order to make sure that if there was a fire emergency and there was no water available in the city, in fact, the city could react very quickly to those emergencies.”