That fall, salinity in the Monongahela River spiked, causing problems for public water supplies and eventually leading to a fish kill on Dunkard Creek. The 2019 PCS Revision was approved after significant consideration and public outreach through three separate public comment periods, four public hearings, and six webinars over the past 18 months. Good River: Stories of the Ohio is a series about the environment, economy, and culture of the Ohio River watershed, produced by seven nonprofit newsrooms. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , ORSANCO held its first hearing on the proposal Monday, April 1 in Green Tree. Ziemkiewicz found that behavioral change was also the solution to a 2008 crisis in the Morgantown, West Virginia, area. The water issues start at the treatment plant, where water pulled from the Tug Fork River is disinfected. The Ohio River is consistently ranked as the most polluted in the country, with an estimated 30-million pounds of toxic chemicals illegally dumped into its waters each year. Will Ohio River Get Optional Pollution Limits as New Fracking-Reliant Plastics Industry Moves in? About the author. %%EOF At the time, the best way to accomplish this was what’s called lock chamber sampling, or filling a 350-by-56-foot lock with river water, injecting it with cyanide and waiting for the dead fish to float to the top. Because while coal is a dire problem, it is just one of many problems. The Ohio River is a 981-mile (1,579 km) ... ranked behind 16 other American rivers for water pollution at number 17. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission reviews the pollution standards for the 981-mile-long river at least every three years. In Pittsburgh, Penn., pollution control compliance would be made voluntary under a new proposal by the Ohio River Valley Water and Sanitation Commission. Will Ohio River Get Optional Pollution Limits as New Fracking-Reliant Plastics Industry Moves in? With the abandoned mine land fund and its resulting projects in peril, university research institutes like Bowman’s have been joining environmental nonprofits in entrepreneurial efforts to ensure that remediation continues. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) today authorized its Pollution Control Standards (PCS) Committee to proceed with a public comment period on the Committee's recommended changes to the Pollution Control Standards, and to invite public review and comment on the proposed modification ; the 2019 Revision. Top of the list is clearly the Ohio River, having won the dubious honor of America’s most polluted river seven years in a row, in terms of pollutant discharges.Millions of tons of chemicals are dumped into the river, from a wide range of businesses and industries but nearly three quarters of them come from a single source: AK Steel Corp. The Ohio River is infamous for pollution even after strict rules and regulations were passed by government agencies, the river is still being largely neglected when it comes to pollution. The Ohio River is a source of drinking water for more than 5 million people. “Prior to 2015, everyone thought algae blooms were a lake problem,” said Greg Youngstrom, an environmental scientist and harmful algae bloom expert at ORSANCO. The standards designate specific uses for the Ohio River, and establish guidelines to ensure that the river is capable of supporting these uses. • Nonpoint source pollution from urban runoff, agricultural activities, and abandoned mines is a major cause of water pollution in the Ohio River. The hope is that these initiatives will eventually generate enough money to cover the remediation and abatement projects that have restored waterways. These tanks, shown here in June 2019, will hold the plastic pellets produced by Shell’s ethane cracker. My dad – dementia,” she said. INDIANAPOLIS - Water quality along Indiana's southern border could be impacted by a long-awaited vote expected this week. Related Program: Cincinnati Edition. A commission that watches over the Ohio River’s health across six states may give up setting pollution standards for the waterway, raising concerns it would weaken protections for a … h�bbd``b`�k�S�`m����h �\bY�V8�D��*@��NH\Ud`b�2���h����� ��' April Johnston, a freelance writer for 100 Days in Appalachia, authored this story. In June 1969, a Time Magazine article garnered national attention when it brought to light the water quality conditions in Ohio: a river had literally caught fire. “I figured I could lay down and die or I could fight,” Maynard said. But the roots of the county’s water issues and the fixes are complicated. Pollution In Ohio River. Pollution Control Board. ���YtfOlU=z��:�֔o�*M�8���o����6�袴�͞���M��"��-�86���{q�Q1P(i��i�|��A?�.a�j���-f��a�C�Cݬs9=�/���ܸ�����nF6���X�T����Tc���������R�mjjܖ�d�� ��xi���U@���WӂZ|��7���!x��[�z�sSKR�����y)��Y ���/B@��!���,EVw�y��"�X�ѴY��D�1����K�F+������Ɔ�`�h`�`2v���h``� R� � � R�����v44X�9@���T�ѐ����4 5ppd� SG��T ��������&�@����B�������X+�0D5�.fbg��j���Q���C7������m*;�(�ӫ7����Ζ�5��Ó�A�7U�� >[ߒ After an 11-month investigation, the grand jury returned no charges. Those nutrients eventually make their way to the Ohio River, where algae feed on them. Share. The upshot of the doser is a rehabilitated waterway. Construction of Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker along the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in June 2019. Some days, it’s cloudy and smells so strongly of chlorine that it burns the eyes. Their goal is to swim the 450 meters to the Kentucky shore and back again. The standards are for … Visit Eye on Ohio for more from the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism. Pollution Water. It’s not a good choice, said Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University. That summer, more than 700 square miles of toxic algae grew on the Ohio River in West Virginia and Ohio. Closer to Athens, Bowman and her team at Ohio University [OU] have created a steel slag leach bed system, which uses an alkaline byproduct of steel production to neutralize acidic water. Tim Reddinger has lived along the Ohio River his entire life, working for most of his career in the steel mills that once lined the riverfront. February 13, 2019. COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fish in an Ohio river that became synonymous with pollution when it caught fire in 1969 are now safe to eat, federal environmental regulators say. “It was so polluted, you could see it, smell it and taste it.”. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. To see more, please visit ohiowatershed.org. This is an area that should not have such high levels of air pollution—some of the worst air pollution in the country. By Michael Monks • Apr 5, 2019 . “There’s a lot of greed and corruption,” Maynard maintained. But even in areas of the river basin where sensical solutions to water pollution have been developed and instituted, the results are still subject to imminent financial threat. The easing of fish consumption restrictions on the Cuyahoga was lauded Monday by Republican Gov. Events like Riversweep are getting people involved in actually making positive change happen. Even with the money, Maynard doesn’t trust that the most pressing problems will be addressed. the Ohio River will be required to be modified or treated to the extent specified in the standards established as above set forth. As of Sept. 5, the county had received two grants – one from an abandoned mine fund and another from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – to improve water supply infrastructure and service. October 16, 2019 Illinois . • The widest point along the Ohio River is approximately 1 mile at the Smithland Dam near Smithland, KY. • The average depth of the Ohio River is approximately 24 feet. “You can’t tell me that’s not because of the water.”. It shouldn’t have been surprising, said Jerry Schulte, a biologist who managed the source water protection and emergency response team for the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission [ORSANCO] for more than two decades. In November 2019, Congressman Donald McEachin (VA-04) introduced the 100% Clean Economy Act of 2019 with Representatives Deb Haaland (NM-01), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), Paul Tonko (NY-20), and Chellie Pingree (ME-01). River recreation ceased and, as blooms made … 4356 0 obj <> endobj 1960s OHIO RIVER POLLUTION & CLEAN-UP ENVIRONMENTAL FILM "TROUBLED WATERS" 16774 ... 2019. The weather was especially dry that season, resulting in low flows. “With Melissa’s data, a spreadsheet model, some common sense and the willingness of industry to do the right thing, we solved it,” Ziemkiewicz said. This one – dementia. Throughout 2019, several locations in Northeast Ohio, including the Cleveland airport, will display archival and contemporary photos of the river as part of the exhibit “Crooked River Contrasts.” Other days, water is the color of weak tea and sediment settles in toilet bowls and shower drains. Maynard drives 45 minutes to a spring at the Mingo-Logan county line in West Virginia to fill containers with fresh water to drink. According to Martin County officials, it will take at least $10 million to address the water issues there. With Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman. The Ohio River is infamous for industrial pollution. The blooms are a result of rains that wash fertilizer off farmland and into nearby creeks. The easing of fish consumption restrictions on the Cuyahoga was lauded Monday by Republican Gov. It comes as no surprise that there are chemicals in the Ohio River. She can be reached at aljohnston14@gmail.com. On Oct. 11, 2000, 300 million gallons of coal slurry broke through a reservoir in Martin County, Kentucky, flooding the abandoned mine shafts below and rushing out into the waters of Wolf Creek and Coldwater Fork. Since 1977, the federal Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program has doled out money to states in order to soothe the scars of coal mining. The Commission also noted mercury pollution as an ongoing concern, citing a 500% increase in mercury discharges between 2007 and 2013. In 1958, researchers from the University of Louisville and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission gathered at a lock on the Monongahela River for routine collecting, counting and comparing of fish species. h�b```��,,��cb�P(m�� In parts of the basin, acid mine drainage turns creeks the color of Orange Crush, agricultural runoff chokes streams with nutrients, and combined sewage and stormwater pipe overflows fill waterways with dangerous bacteria. Maynard believes her late mother’s multiple bouts with cancer are a direct result. The money comes from the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation program. As the plastics industry gears up in the Ohio Valley, regulators say water permits for the crackers in Beaver County and Belmont County, Ohio, already address nurdle pollution. It cost ODNR nearly $400,000 to install, and the tower must be refilled with calcium oxide every six to eight weeks at a rate of about $40,000 per year, according to Bowman. “A lot of it is just behavioral change,” Bowman said. The first erupted near Huntington, West Virginia, and grew 50 miles long before dissipating, according to Youngstrom. Get Your Custom Essay on Ohio River Pollution Just from $13,9/Page. The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] works with authorized state regulatory agencies to implement the NPDES permitting program. There are simple ways to help curb the problem. “It was like mud pie,” Maynard said, “only instead of mud and water, it was mud and oil.”. “That one – dementia. She’s become the face of the Martin County water crisis, both locally and in media outlets as far away as France and Japan. It threatens aquatic life, endangers people taking part in river recreation and – perhaps most critically – creates water unfit for human consumption. It threatens aquatic life, endangers people taking part in river recreation and — perhaps most critically — creates water unfit for human consumption. COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Fish in the Cuyahoga River, which became synonymous with pollution when it caught fire in Cleveland in 1969, are now safe to eat, federal environmental regulators say. Today, the water from AS-14 instead flows into a tall green structure – known as the Carbondale doser – and turns a wheel, releasing pinches of powdery calcium oxide from the cylindrical tower above. Mike DeWine as an important step toward ultimately delisting the river altogether as an area of … Like much of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia, Martin County has an aging infrastructure problem and little money to fix it. It was so laden with acidity that snow plows had to be called in to scrape the resulting iron off the asphalt, and fish kills became a regular occurrence where Hewett Fork flows into Raccoon Creek. IL, IN, KY, NY, OH, PA, VA, WV, Federal Govt. She has a vast and growing collection of water-related public documents, religiously attends municipal meetings and writes letters to the public service commission. 4383 0 obj <>stream On March 20, 2019, fish caught in Ohio’s Cuyahoga River were declared safe to eat by federal environmental regulators. Julie Grant February 14, 2019. By the time Schulte began monitoring fish species in the 1990s, thanks to environmental and industrial regulations like the Clean Water Act, the Ohio River and its major tributaries, including the Mon, had changed. Share Tweet Email. All rights reserved. Standards 201Revision, which were 5 established by Commission action October 8, 2015, have been amended or restated by virtue of Pollution Control Standards 2019, the Pollution Control Standards 2015 Before 2004, that water washed across a field and the road before dumping into Hewett Fork, turning it tangerine. 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