By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
November 11, 2009
Virginia has the second-dirtiest waterways among the 50 states.
That's according to a recent study by the Environment America advocacy group tallying the amount of pollutants discharged into bodies of water across the nation.
Based on numbers reported to federal authorities, only Indiana had more toxic chemicals released into its waterways by industry than Virginia's 18 million-plus pounds in 2007.
That is the most recent year for which discharge figures are publicly available from the Environmental Protection Agency, which collects the data.
The report also awards this dubious distinction to the Old Dominion: It is home to a portion of the nation's second-most-polluted waterway, the roughly 320-mile New River, which snakes through southwest Virginia and two other states. The most polluted waterway, it says, is the Ohio River.
Across the nation in 2007, 232 million pounds of toxic chemicals were dumped into 1,900 waterways, the report finds.
"Nearly half of the rivers and lakes in the U.S. are considered too polluted for safe fishing or swimming," said Sarah Driscoll, an official with the Virginia chapter of Environment America.
In Hampton Roads, most waterways are low in the state rankings. The Elizabeth River, for example, had about 14,257 pounds of toxics dumped into it in 2007, making it the 18th-most-polluted waterway in Virginia.
Other local bodies of water such as the Nansemond and Pagan rivers also are low on the study's toxic discharge rankings; the Lynnhaven River doesn't make the list.
In contrast, the James River, which cuts across Virginia's midsection, had nearly 1.7 million pounds of pollutants pumped into it two years ago, making it the second-dirtiest in the state (after the Clinch River) and 31st-worst nationally, according to the study.
As part of a pitch for passage of clean-water legislation by Congress, the Environment America analysis focuses on current discharge levels, separating discharged chemicals into categories of those linked to cancer, to developmental disorders and to reproductive problems.
What the study doesn't do is focus on levels of legacy pollution in bodies of water. That's an important factor in the view of Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the Elizabeth River Project, a group that works to improve the health of the waterway.
The bad news, she said, is that the river still contains toxic chemicals dumped in it years ago.
Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
Source URL (retrieved on 03/23/2010 - 17:39): http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/virginia-waterways-ranks-seconddirtiest-country
