9,000 Miles Of Virginia Waterways Polluted - up 2,000 Miles Since 2004

[hatrack]

Nearly 9,000 miles of Virginia's rivers and streams are polluted, a new state report says. That's 63 percent of the waters checked. The dirty waters are up from 6,931 miles, or 61 percent, in 2004, when the last report came out.

"As we continue to look more closely, we are finding that pollution is affecting waters across the state," said Bill Hayden, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ prepares its water-quality report, sometimes called the "dirty-water list," every other year. It is Virginia's most important document detailing the health of state waters.

The polluted stretches -- the state calls them impaired -- include such well-known dirty waters as the James River in the Richmond area, which is tainted by fecal bacteria from animal manure and other sources, and the Elizabeth River in Hampton Roads, which is fouled by the industrial chemical TBT, among other things.

New sections on the list include the James from Big Island, near the Blue Ridge Parkway, to downtown Richmond, which is tainted by toxic chemicals called PCBs. The proportion of waters reported to be polluted has gone up from 7 percent of those checked in 1996, to 15 percent in 1998, to 49 percent in 2002.


EDIT

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189068513&path=!news&s=1045855934842

[bobbieinok]

1. wasn't there a period of time after the 70s when many waterways

were being cleaned up??? It seemed like US went from 1) here's the problem 2) clean-up started 3) great progress made.

What happened?? When did it start to go backward??

Didn't outdoor groups like Isaak Walton League sponsor clean-water areas and make great strides??

Another example of how 'the powers that be/the establishment' has deleted much of the progress of the 60s and 70s and corrupted the US public to think 'this is the way things are s'posed to be.'

[pushycat]

2. Agreed. PCBs in the Hudson and GE stalling mandated cleanup.,

Take a look, since 2002: http://www.ge.com/en/citizenship/ehs/remedial/hudson/agreement.htm

Our natural resources will be our best insurance against ill health, why not protect them vigorously!?