Water Sector News
A snapshot of clean water stories from publications around the country, updated daily!
Inside Youngkin’s plan to use wastewater monitoring to track fentanyl in Virginia
To mark National Fentanyl Awareness Day on May 9, Gov. Glenn Youngkin tasked the Virginia Department of Health with harnessing existing wastewater monitoring infrastructure in order to flush out fentanyl across the state. The directive is one component of a 10-step executive order to crack down on the manufacture and distribution of the powerful synthetic opioid in Virginia.
Fifty to 100 times more potent than morphine, fentanyl killed nearly 2,000 Virginians in 2022, slightly down from 2,600 in 2021. While Virginia’s drug overdose mortality rate is lower than surrounding states, more Virginians have died from fatal drug overdoses than motor vehicle and gun-related deaths combined each year since 2020, the Department of Health’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported. The agency’s preliminary analysis of overdose deaths found fentanyl caused or contributed to more than three-quarters of fatal overdoses last year.