Virginia Water Quality Becoming a Concern

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Virginia Water Quality Becoming a Concern

EarthVision Environmental News

RICHMOND, VA, February 12, 2001 - Although five years ago the word was

Virginia's surface waters were pretty clean, a new report says residents and

government officials can no longer take water quality for granted, and

instead must pay attention to a situation that is getting worse. Five years

ago a report was published saying only five percent of the Commonwealth's

monitored rivers, streams and bays were polluted. Now, the environmental

group Friends of the Rivers of Virginia says surface waters are in trouble.

Nearly five years and $130,000 went into compiling the State of Our Rivers

report.

According to the report, Virginia's waters often fail clean-water tests. The

group says these results show the state government needs to seriously

address the problem of bacterial and chemical contamination in the waters.

The bacterial problem comes from runoff but in many cases, but in many more,

the source is simply listed as " unknown. "

The Virginian-Pilot, in detailing the problem, quoted Bill Tanger, chairman

of Friends of the Rivers of Virginia, as saying, " The bottom line is that we

now know our waters are not as clean as we thought they were. " But added,

" We now have a more accurate picture of what's really going on out there. "

The group notes that although past reports about Virginia's water quality

were hard to both read and understand, this new report is written in

easy-to-understand terms, and includes simple maps.

" This one's actually written in English, " said Gerald McCarthy, executive

director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment, which provided $50,000

towards the creation of the report.

The report was published on the heels of the state environmental

department's own report on the health of Virginia's waters. According to the

state's report, 41 percent of the 9,100 miles of monitored rivers and

streams are considered " impaired, " or fouled by one or more contaminants.

When it comes to the almost 2,000 square miles of salty bays and estuaries

monitored, about 21 percent are polluted.

These results were not widely distributed, which irks some environmental

groups.

" In '96, they had a big to-do when they reported only five percent were

polluted, " said Patti , executive director of the River

Association. " But when they have 40 percent, no one knows about it, no one

says anything about it. "

State officials counter this criticism by saying a more detailed report is

due in 2003 and will get wider attention. In addition, they say the

increased pollution figures are a product of increased monitoring, not

necessarily a jump in contaminants reaching the waterways.

For more information on the State of Our Rivers report, the public can call

Tanger at 540-343-3696 and get a free copy of the report while supplies

last.

http://www.pilotonline.com/