Published July 27, 2026 at 9:59 AM EDT

Aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman is seeking a state permit that would allow it to emit more than 24 tons of chemicals at its new Waynesboro plant each year. Many local residents aren’t having it. WMRA's Christine Kueter reports.

[Sound of an irritated speaker being interrupted, and people applauding]

Sixty-four.

Christine Kueter / WMRA

Hundreds of residents gathered in Waynesboro High School auditorium on July 23 to hear comments about the plant.

That’s the number of people who spoke in front of a packed audience at Waynesboro High School on July 23 about whether manufacturer Northrop Grumman should receive a state operating permit that would allow it to release up to 24.9 tons of pollutants as it builds electrical components for aerospace and defense machinery.

Social worker Tiffany McAllister was one. Her family has lived in Waynesboro for three generations. Her great grandmother worked at the city’s DuPont plant shortly after it opened in 1929, a facility that dumped mercury into the South River for years, where it’s still present today.

TIFFANY MCALLISTER: They built their house over in Bookerdale before it was even a part of Waynesboro, and DuPont was just being built, and they all suffered, all suffered. The health effects are completely generational.

During the three-hour meeting, attendees’ primary concerns centered on Northrop Grumman’s planned annual release of up to 24.9 tons of toxic and flammable chemicals, including xylene, toluene, and MIBK (methyl isobutyl ketone), an amount that puts it below major source levels, and, therefore, subject to less scrutiny, such as localized air studies and particulate dispersion modeling.

MCALLISTER: We just had the wildfires, and we were advised to stay indoors and not breathe the air, but we’re expected to go out and breathe 24.9 tons a year of toxic chemicals? Many at the meeting said they worried about pollutants seeping into a nearby municipal water supply, at Coyner Springs, and the impact topographically trapped airborne pollutants might have on residents, especially children and the elderly. Many suggested Northop Grumman should not be trusted to track its own emissions, and that state officials should mandate third-party monitoring, state-of-the-art filtration systems, and perimeter detectors. Many expressed frustration that their new industrial neighbor brings with it a history of environmental violations, including, most recently, in Bethpage, New York.

That no one from Northop Grumman attended the meeting irked Waynesboro resident Janet Rollings.

JANET ROLLINGS: They are not here, they are not listening, and they do not want to hear us. The applicant does not think this process is worthy of their presence.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cody Valenzuela is a supervisor at Waynesboro’s Amazon distribution center, and lives about a mile from the Northrop Grumman facility.

Christine Kueter / WMRA

Keeley Welsh and Cody Valenzuela, Waynesboro residents, who spoke out against Northrop Grumman at a community meeting July 23.

CODY VALENZUELA: The reason I came out is, I love hiking, I love being outdoors, and I cannot stand by while a company ruins that.

The Shenandoah National Park Federal Land Manager reviewed Northrop Grumman’s application late last year and had no comment. With the deadline for public comment now past, it’s now up to Department of Environmental Quality officials to determine whether and how Northrop Grumman may begin its work. After compiling public comments, DEQ will host another community forum and ultimately issue its decision. DEQ say those events will be listed on their web site.

The 315,000 square foot facility—which spreads across 87 acres behind a large shopping center and apartment complex just off Interstate 64—may not begin operating until after the state operating permit is issued.