Chris S. Simmons

Office sought: Director Soil/Water Conservation District
Party: Independent
Age: 48
Residence: Leesburg
Web site:
None given.
E-mail:
chris_simmons_2006@yahoo.com

Occupaton: Shift leader, Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline, U.S. Army.

Education: BA, history, Virginia Military Institute; MA, international affairs, American University.

Elected offices/civic activities: Member, Sierra Club; member, Keep Loudoun Beautiful; member, Piedmont Environmental Council; member, Nature Conservancy; member, Potomac Riverkeepers; member, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; member, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust; member, North American Congress on Latin America; member, Latin American Studies Association; member, Caribbean Studies Association; member, Civil War Preservation Trust.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why should voters elect you?

A: Toxins in our river are a public safety issue. I have the vision and experience to help us do more to make our waterways safer.

Q: What do you see as the key challenges facing the Soil & Water Conservation District, and how will you meet those challenges?

A: The key issue currently facing the Loudoun SWCD and the men, women, and children of our county is the large-scale presence of toxins in our watershed. According to a 2004 report by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), 52% percent of Virginia’s waterways are impaired by pollution. In 1996, the rate was only 5%. This period should sound familiar, since it closely matches the start of Loudoun’s explosive growth rate. The bad news is that Loudoun fared much worse than the rest of the state. The DEQ examined 162 miles of Loudoun’s waterways and determined that a staggering 81% had unsafe levels of pollutants. We also need to take a regional look and consider the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. After all, our County waterways and the Shenandoah feed directly into the Potomac River – which is the source of our drinking water. For those unfamiliar with the Shenandoah River, this once beautiful waterway has long been unsafe due to mercury contamination. The Potomac River, meanwhile, is so poisoned by toxins that some male fish have begun growing female sex organs. Consider that the next time you drink a glass of water, fish in a local waterway or go tubing at Harper’s Ferry. Currently, a plan exists to help restore local water quality by 2015. That is completely unacceptable. Fifteen years ago, water surveys assessed the Goose Creek watershed as one of the cleanest waterways in the entire Atlantic seaboard. Now we live among, and drink from, water contaminated by mercury, fecal matter, hormones, and other toxins. We live in one of the most affluent counties in the nation and yet we are incapable of providing our citizens with safe water. We can do better. Our health, our environment, and our local economy demands action now. As an experienced leader with vision, I want to help foster the effective and efficient alliance of community and governmental groups needed to get us on the right path. We need to restore water quality quickly and have a sound plan for the future as well. We can move any number of mountains if we put our heart and souls into this effort. By bringing together our community and environmental groups and working with the appropriate county, state, and regional players, we can make clean water the legacy we give to our children.

Your Thoughts...

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