Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 15, 1990 TAG: 9005150479
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
Fariss doesn't need to ask what is turning the water a rusty red. The state Water Control Board has said that heavy metals, including iron, zinc, lead and selenium, have leached into the water, creating the color change.
And he doesn't need to ask where the pollution is coming from: the old Allied Chemical Plant, which manufactured iron sulfide, has been identified as the source.
But he wants to know who is responsible for the cleanup. "We need to have some answers," Fariss said.
Because numerous agencies have overlapping authority, the answer to Fariss' question appears as murky as Peak Creek itself.
And until the agencies conclude their investigations and find out the extent of the pollution, there won't be a clear-cut answer. Only then will one agency assume primary responsibility for policing the pollution source.
Fariss' frustration is shared by people who use the creek and 20,000-acre lake, which is the county's major recreation area.
"We're beating our heads against a wall trying to find the best office to talk to," said Clarke Cunningham III, a developer who lives at Claytor Lake. "One day, it's one office, the next day, it's another."
At least four agencies are keeping tabs on the pollution: the state Water Control Board, the state Department of Waste Management, the Pulaski County and regional health departments and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Local health department officials have been briefed on the state agencies' investigations, but so far they have referred all inquiries to the Water Control Board.
This week, though, the responsibility will be shifted back to local officials when the health department must interpret findings from recent fish tests conducted by the water board. Matters concerning human health are responsibilities of the New River Valley Health District.
Cunningham said the various agencies will continue to look at bits and pieces of the problem unless the citizens make a local effort to pull things together.
"It [pollution] has already been going on for years," he said.
Water Control Board biologists first reported industrial waste entering Peak Creek from the Allied property in the mid-1970s.
But when Allied Chemical closed down in 1976 after 55 years of operation, the pollution didn't stop.
Downtown East Inc. of Pulaski bought the site a few years after Allied Chemical closed. Water Control Board officials wrote to the new property owners in 1978, asking them to contain the waste.
Downtown East responded with a letter saying that runoff from Pulaski Mall was draining onto chemical piles at the Allied property, causing the pollution.
For the past 10 years, the mall and Downtown East fought in the courts over who was responsible. The case was resolved a few months ago, with Downtown East winning the suit and the mall owners promising to stop the runoff.
But Downtown East officials are still held responsible for their portion of the problem. They were given until April 30 to stop the runoff. Nothing had been done by the deadline.
The Water Control Board has not been notified by either the mall owners or Downtown East of any progress in correcting the runoff into Peak Creek.
A spokesman for the partnership said a few weeks ago that the runoff would be handled in a responsible manner. He did not return phone calls last week.
State Water Control Board officials still are threatening to take punitive actions against Downtown East. Kip Foster, technical services supervisor for the Water Control Board, has said the item would come up at a June board meeting - more than a month after the missed deadline.
The pollution problem has not been continuous. A clay cap on the Allied site seemed to stop the discharge for a time during the late 1980s.
But in the last year, high rainfall has eroded the cap and the waste was left exposed, said Neil Obenshain, acting regional director of the Water Control Board. This prompted the board to look at the problem again.
County residents are becoming impatient.
"All you have to do is drive down and look at the Allied site," said Robert Terrell, who lives near the creek. "It is purple. It is red. It is yellow. It is gut-wrenching. It is awful. And it washes into Peak Creek in front of our houses. . . . It's time for action."
David Bailey, director of the Virginia office of the Environmental Defense Fund, said he understands the residents' frustrations.
"This sounds like some of the junk that's been going on for years," he said. "There are overlapping jurisdictions. . . ."
Bailey said a lack of coordination is a major problem of state environmental agencies.
"It's very frustrating for the citizens," he said. "They can never pin down somebody to take responsibility for the mess. They don't know who to turn to or who to file their comments with. Citizens get bounced around."
But the agencies aren't completely to blame, Bailey said. "Both the Water Control Board and the Department of Waste Management are overworked and understaffed. Both are pretty good programs. They're trying to respond, but they're playing catch-up."
State agencies are hit with a range of projects and they continually try to do more with less, Bailey said.
The same is true for his own Environmental Defense Fund, which is a non-profit agency.
"We're kidding ourselves if we think we have enough staff to respond to every environmental issue that comes up," he said. "And we have to temper our criticism of the state agencies. They're really doing the best job they can."
Bernard Caton, state deputy secretary for natural resources, said one of the goals of his administration is to simplify various procedures, regulations and permitting processes.
"We want to make our procedures more understandable to the general public and to the agencies themselves," Caton said. "We are working to identify the areas that need changing.
"Anytime we look at ways to improve we're going to look out for overlapping jurisdictions," he said.
by CNB