Former Executive Director, State Water Control Board
Former Director, Department of Environmental Quality

 

As executive director of the State Water Control Board from 1983 to 1993 and DEQ director for 14 months after that, Richard N. Burton has been called one of the chief architects of the environmental regulatory system in Virginia. After leaving the state government, his success in the field continued, as he spearheaded environmental initiatives for major corporations.

 

Burton remembers his days with the state with fondness. “The water control board and DEQ—the people who worked for those organizations—I think, had a deeply held sense of commitment to the environment. You work hard to achieve that. It’s remarkable how committed the people who worked for these agencies, and now DEQ, have been over
the years.

 

“The biggest successes we shared were oftentimes dealing with companies or municipalities that were not in compliance with the law, that we were able to bring into compliance to protect the environment. Those situations were extremely satisfying, to see a pollution problem cleared up, and to see dramatic improvement in the water quality or air quality.

“Specific to that, one of the things we worked hard on and saw a great success with was the phosphate detergent ban. It was something we got accomplished in the early days of the Chesapeake Bay Program that made a big difference in the water quality in the stream environment in Virginia. Another major effort that we undertook back in the ’80s and early ’90s was getting all of our municipal systems on the advanced wastewater treatment system.

 

“It’s going to continue to be a challenge to deal with land-disturbing activities and nonpoint sources of pollution. Whether there’s farming, or operations associated with construction, growth and development—we need economic vitality, but we need that economic vitality without increasing our environmental footprint. That’s going to be a challenge as we move forward in Virginia with further growth.

 

“We saw a significant change in the ’80s and ’90s from major industry,” Burton remembers, “where the large corporations developed a sense of responsibility and commitment to make the kind of environmental changes that had to be made. But it was deeper than that, and the larger companies, private enterprises, have brought people in to those companies to help guide them to meet the kind of public expectations that are out there. And that’s been a big change in the last 20 years. … Industries today have to meet their environmental responsibilities, and they recognize it.”

 

“Today, I see a great deal more public commitment to attacking the remaining issues than I did 15 years ago. That’s a positive trend, but we still have a long way to go. Because it’s the kind of issue that hits home to you individually, and it’s much easier to push the problem off on somebody else when it’s really your car that’s causing the problem. Fortunately, people today are seemingly becoming aware of the need to
deal with it.”