April 2007
News
- Scientists collect fish for investigation
- DEQ celebrates Earth Day
- Schools receive classroom grants
- Ads use humor to spread environmental message
- Virginia issues 2005 report on chemical releases
- Omar of the Reef visits Japan
Community Involvement Highlight
Winchester residents, DEQ plant trees to improve water quality
Director's Corner
News
Scientists collect fish for investigation
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Stephen Reeser of DGIF and Don Kain of DEQ collect fish from the North Fork Shenandoah River on March 27 in Strasburg. |
DEQ, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the U.S. Geological Survey met at Strasburg Park on March 27 to collect fish for the Shenandoah River fish kill investigation.
DGIF and DEQ collected fish from the North Fork of the river through electroshocking or temporarily stunning them. Biologists then selected smallmouth bass and redbreast sunfish for testing.
USGS biologists measured and weighed the fish, checked the health of the gills and scales, and collected blood and tissue samples and bacteria cultures. The USGS will test the samples for viruses, bacteria, intersex conditions and other factors in the overall health of the fish.
DEQ celebrates Earth Day
DEQ is working with citizens in April and May to raise awareness of current environmental issues in celebration of Earth Day. The agency will participate in the activities listed below. Members of the public are invited to attend.
- April 12: Army Earth Day celebration at Fort Pickett, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., Nottoway County.
- April 13: Blackwater Creek Cleanup Day, 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Lynchburg. For more information, contact Kelly Wills at kjwills@deq.virginia.gov.
- April 21: Earth Day Richmond, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., south end of Mayo Bridge, Richmond. A combination of the annual fish festival and the Mayor's Walk and Roll, this year's event will include music, food and art and dance exhibits.
- April 21: Chesterfield County Environmental Fair, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Chesterfield Towne Center Mall, Chesterfield County. The fair will include exhibits on environmental initiatives and a collection station for electronics recycling. More information is available on the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority web site.
- April 22: Party for the Planet, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Virginia Zoo, Norfolk.
- May 6: Earth Day, Everyday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Mount Trashmore Park, Virginia Beach.
Schools receive classroom grants
Fifty-four schools will receive about $37,000 in Virginia Naturally classroom grants for meaningful watershed education and outdoor classrooms. Over the last 5 years, 441 grants totaling $324,000 have been awarded with public and private funds from the Chesapeake Bay program, Virginia Office of Environmental Education and Smithfield Foods.
Ads use humor to spread environmental message
Did you catch one of those humorous ads that hit the airways and papers this spring asking you to “Save the Crabs...Then Eat ‘Em”? The ads are a part of the Chesapeake Club, a social marketing campaign. The ads urge homeowners to reduce nutrients flowing into streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay by waiting until fall to fertilize their lawns, when fertilizer runoff is less likely and less damaging to the Bay. More than 645 of the ads ran during March and April in Richmond and Hampton Roads and more than a dozen newspaper ads appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Daily Press and Virginian Pilot. If you missed them, the ads are available on the Chesapeake Club website. The Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program provided 50 percent of the funding for the ads through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Virginia issues 2005 report on chemical releases
Virginia industries reported that chemicals released on-site at facilities decreased by about 10 percent in 2005, according to the latest Toxics Release Inventory produced by DEQ.
This comes despite the fact that the total amount of chemicals reported as managed on-site, transferred off-site or released on-site increased by about 50 percent from 2004. Most of the increase is due to the additional reporting of on-site recycling at one facility that had not been reported in recent years.
“I am encouraged that the overall amount of chemicals entering the environment continues to decrease,” DEQ Director David K. Paylor said. “Virginia businesses are getting better at effectively managing their chemicals. However we cannot be content and we still have work to do. DEQ will continue to work with businesses and industry to reduce chemical releases.”
Omar of the Reef visits Japan
Omar of the Reef is in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, where he assisted with outreach at the U.S./Japan Oyster Reef Symposium on April 8. Omar is the mascot of the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program’s oyster restoration and gardening efforts. The symposium brought together oyster experts from the two countries to focus on the ecological value of natural oyster reef habitat. Research on oysters in Japan has historically focused on commercial oyster aquaculture. Omar’s visit to Japan is part of the coastal program’s collaboration with Japanese researcher Urara Takashima, who organized the symposium.
Community Involvement Highlight
Winchester residents, DEQ plant trees to improve water quality
More than 80 residents of the Winchester community volunteered their time to improve the water quality of Town Run, a tributary of Abrams and Opequon creeks in March. This effort was part of the cleanup plan to address excess bacteria and sediment for the watershed. The plan recommended the establishment of sixteen miles of riparian buffers through Winchester and northeastern Frederick County to improve water quality. The Town Run project contributed more than 900 linear feet of a 25 foot wide riparian buffer to this goal. The location, in a residential area across from sport fields, is designated as the Whittier Park Natural Area, but until this project, simply looked like a small stream flowing through a marshy, grassy floodplain. After the establishment of 500 native trees and 150 native shrubs, it is hoped that the area will be an example of riparian buffer success and establishment. Volunteers represented a wide range of community organizations including Handley High School in Winchester, Shenandoah University, Master Gardeners, Virginia Native Plant Society, Forest Stewards, Girl Scouts, DEQ and many interested local residents.