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NFC: Fw: [currents] RiverCurrents Online -- Week of May 14, 1999






River News for the Week of May 14, 1999

ANIMAL FACTORIES: The American public is in general not in favor of
animal
factories, reveals a recent poll of 1,000 registered voters. Animal
factories are those facilities that mass-produce hogs, chickens and
cattle
in ware-house sized buildings for their entire lives. As reports the PR
Newswire (5/12), one of the top concerns of voters is the water and soil
pollution that comes from animal factory waste. Another finding from the
poll is that “80% of voters favor the creation of uniform, national
standards to limit air and water pollution from animal factories,” and
that
66% would likely vote for a political candidate who would enforce
regulations. These factories produce vast quantities of waste that is not
treated as human waste is, but is instead spread on land as fertilizer or
held in large open-air pits. Often waste spread on fields finds its way
into
waterways, and the pits can break or spill into rivers.

     *     *     *

COLUMBIA RIVER: Roman Catholic bishops of the US Northwest and British
Columbia have come together this week to “pledge to help the Columbia
River
by eliminating the use of fertilizers and pesticides on the lawns of
Catholic schools and churches while reducing the use of gold in church
adornments.” As reports the Portland Oregonian (5/12), the bishops
consider
the well-being of salmon a sign of the ecological health of the river, as
well as an indication of the “spiritual vitality” of the watershed. They
also recommend that off-road vehicles and snowmobiles stay only on
“limited
and legally constructed roads.” This move is seen as the first use of
religion and morality in the debate over the future of the Columbia
River. A
pastoral letter on the Columbia River watershed will be completed in
2000.

     *     *     *

BIG MUDDY NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE REFUGE: Expansion of the Big Muddy
National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Missouri has been authorized by the
US
Fish and Wildlife Service. The expansion will increase the size of the
refuge from 16,628 acres to 60,000 acres. Located along the Missouri
River
floodplain from Kansas City to St. Louis, MO, the refuge will also see
increased opportunities for public use, including hunting, fishing and
wildlife observation. As reports the PR Newswire (5/12), about eight
percent
of the riverine habitat along the floodplain between the two cities will
be
restored.

     *     *     *

VIRGINIA’S WATERS: The EPA is adding 83 bodies of water to Virginia's
"dirty
waters list," including the Chesapeake Bay and portions of the James
River.
As reports the PR Newswire (5/12), this raises the total number of
polluted
waters in the state to 809. For each body of water on the list, the state
is
required to develop a Total Maximum Daily Load which determines “how much
of
a pollutant can be put into a river, lake or stream without violating
water
quality standards.”

     *     *     *

FOX RIVER: Toxic PCBs in the Fox River in Wisconsin are harming many
species
of birds that live in Green Bay, into which the river flows. As reports
the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (5/13), the recent study is the “latest
development in the proposed cleanup of PCBs buried in the muck of the Fox
River.” The study does not indicate that the birds cannot live in the
bay,
but that they are unhealthy and pose a risk to people who might hunt and
consume them. Seven paper mills, which are held responsible for polluting
the river with thousands of pounds of PCBs, have pledged $7 million to
help
clean up the river.

     *     *     *

MUSSELS AND THE HIWASSEE RIVER: In an effort to restore mussels in the
southeast, a number of lab-raised juvenile tan riffleshell mussels were
released last month in the Hiwassee River in Tennessee. The Hiwassee
represents one of the most pristine mussel sites in the area. The release
marks the first time juvenile mussels were released into a waterway –
traditionally, the only way to restore freshwater mussels was to move the
adult mollusks from one river to another. As reports the Knoxville
News-Sentinel (5/12), “the Southeast has the richest array of mussels in
North America -- close to 297 species in all.” Nearly 75% are threatened
due
to dam construction, pollution, dredging and other human impacts. The
release is the result of a 10-year research project by the Freshwater
Mollusk Conservation Center at Virginia Tech.

     *     *     *

HUDSON RIVER: A recent study commissioned by General Electric says that
“fish in some areas of the upper Hudson River in New York will be clean
enough to eat by next year if General Electric continues to control
pollution and PCBs get buried naturally by sediment.” As reports the
Times
Union (5/12), a computer model was used to analyze the probable state of
a
40-mile stretch of the river between Fort Edward and Troy Dam 20 years
into
the future. The study would also support GE’s contention that the river
does
not require dredging to clean up the PCBs. According to the Times Union,
“environmentalists contend that dredging is needed and that the GE report
is
a whitewash designed to support the company's case.” The EPA must decide
by
2001 whether dredging is required. Dredging could cost the company
between
$250 million and $1 billion.

     *     *     *

In a related story, while fishing in the Hudson River this week, New York
Gov. Pataki Pataki announced that the state would study whether the river
should be reopened to commercial striped bass fishing. In February of
this
year, a state Department of Environmental Conservation study showed that
the
PCB levels in striped bass were within federal safety limits for the
first
time in two decades. Environmentalists, however, argue that striped bass
are
not as susceptible to PCBs because they spend part of each year at sea.
As
reports the Buffalo News (5/11), “groups like the Sierra Club grudgingly
admit that the lower Hudson from Manhattan to the Troy Dam near Albany is
better than it has been for years,” though the Upper Hudson still suffers
from the chemicals.

     *     *     *

ANACOSTIA RIVER: The Anacostia river in Washington, DC and Maryland is
benefiting from a pact signed by officials in the area to spend several
million dollars to clean up the river. As reports the Washington Post
(5/11), Washington DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) has pledged $5
million
and Montgomery County, MD, Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) promised $2.1
million for restoration and storm water control projects. Maryland Gov.
Parris N. Glendening (D) has also agreed to open two miles of the
tributary
system and reforest one mile of stream bank.

     *     *     *

SOUTH DAKOTA WATERS: This week the South Dakota state Game, Fish and
Parks
Department reported that water conditions in the state are “about as good
as
they've ever been," and that trout are spawning in rivers that often have
no
water, reports the Daily Press (5/10).

     *     *     *

JAMES RIVER: For the first time since 1803, “more than 300 miles of
traditional spawning runs on the James River, stretching from Richmond to
Lynchburg, have been reopened to suffering shad and herring stocks.” As
reports the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (5/8),  after a decade a work and
millions of dollars, the fish are now being given a chance to repopulate
in
this river that has been blocked for two centuries by man-made dams and
culverts.

     *     *     *

POLLUTION DETECTION SYSTEM: The Ohio River Basin and the New York Harbor
will be the test site of a “new exclusively patented, global, real-time
satellite and microwave radio remote water contaminant detection system.”
As
reports the PR Newswire (5/12), a pilot project funded by the EPA has
come
up with the Genesis Alert system, a set of remote sensing buoys that will
identify various source drinking water pollutants and toxins, such as oil
spills and the toxic microbe Pfisteria. The remote testing mechanisms
will
monitor water in real time and send the data back via satellite or
microwave
radio to land-based dispatch centers.

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