Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9412010014
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cathryn McCue
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Give the kids canvas bags or pillow cases instead of disposable bags this year to carry treats, and put a little green into the orange-and-black holiday, says the Environmental Defense Fund, a national nonprofit organization.
Put together costumes using old clothes and creativity, instead of store-bought ones. "This way you can scare your neighbors without spooking Mother Nature," said John Ruston, the group's economic analyst.
Buy candy that uses the least packaging and look for the recycled content on wrappers.
Don't use throw-away plates, cups and utensils for your Halloween parties.
Re-use your decorations from year to year.
And don't forget to compost your pumpkin.
3 enviro boards to meet
The state's top decision makers in protecting air, water and soil will meet in Roanoke this month to hear citizens' concerns about the environment.
The Water Control Board, Air Pollution Control Board and the Waste Management Board - all citizens' panels appointed by the governor - will hold one of their first joint meetings Thursday at the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors meeting room on Bernard Drive.
The Department of Environmental Quality, under executive order by Gov. George Allen, is reviewing many state environmental regulations to determine whether they are necessary to protect public health and welfare, or burdensome and intrusive. The meeting will allow citizens to comment on that process.
Four additional public hearings will be held in the future. For a summary of regulations under review, call (804) 762-4570. For a copy of a single regulation, call (804) 762-4378.
Complete text of the regulations are available at the Roanoke DEQ regional office at 3015 Peters Creek Road. The number is 562-3666.
Farm survey
The Department of Conservation and Recreation will survey 6,000 farmers to see if they are taking measures to control agricultural pollution.
Virginia Tech's biosystems engineering department will conduct the survey, which has the endorsement of the Virginia Farm Bureau.
Farmers have done a lot to curb agricultural run-off, which impairs water quality in streams, rivers, ground water and the Chesapeake Bay, said Jack Frye, director of soil and water conservation in the department. "But we don't know just how much, as we need to know," he said.
The department has split a $24 million cost with farmers over the past 11 years to implement practices in hopes of reducing overloaded nutrients in the bay by 40 percent by the year 2000.
The survey will also gauge how well existing technical assistance and education programs work.
New Wildlife office
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently opened an office in Abingdon to focus conservation efforts in the Upper Tennessee River Basin. It will be one of the first offices in the country to implement the agency's ecosystem approach to endangered species conservation.
The basin, located in Virginia and headwaters to the Clinch, Powell and Holston rivers, contains one of the highest concentrations of endangered aquatic species in the U.S. - 14 species of mussels and four species of fish.
The FWS will help the region's planners incorporate natural resource issues into economic development plans, avoiding potential conflicts between development and environmental concerns, said Roberta Hylton, who will head the new office.
For more information, contact Hylton at 623-1233.
The art of recycling
Southwest Virginia artists will be in the dumps this month - making art from material that otherwise would be found in a landfill.
Each member of the Virginia Mountain Crafts Guild who participates in the annual "Holiday in the Valley" Christmas show has been asked to create something from paper, glass, wood, plastic, or any other garbage that would be found in a landfill. The pieces will be exhibited during the Christmas show Nov. 4-6 at the Salem Civic Center.
Proceeds from the sale of the "garbage art" will be donated to the guild's art scholarship fund.
EPA gets tanked
EPA inspectors have begun unannounced checks of facilities in Virginia with underground fuel and chemical storage tanks and will start issuing on-the-spot penalties for violations. Owners will be fined between $300 to $1,500 and must pay the U.S. Treasury within 30 days. The EPA enforcement program also includes Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The EPA is targeting facilities that haven't complied with the 1988 regulations. Leaking underground tanks and pipes can contaminate drinking water, soil and air, as well as pose fire hazards. The federal agency estimates that 25 percent, or tens of thousands in the United States, may be leaking.
Farms and homes with tanks holding 1,100 gallons or less of heating or motor oil are exempt.
Free trees
Anyone who joins the The National Arbor Day Foundation during October will get 10 free shade trees from the nonprofit organization.
Plant a sugar maple, red oak, pin oak, weeping willow, river birch, tulip tree, silver maple and red maple, green ash and thornless honey locust - each one measuring six to 12 inches and guaranteed to grow or it'll be replaced free.
The trees will be shipped postpaid at the right time for planting, between Nov. 1 and Dec.10. Send $10 by Oct. 31 to to SHADE TREES, National Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, Neb. 68410, and get your shovel ready.
Green Pieces, an environmental-news notes column, will appear every other Monday in Extra. If you have ideas or items to add, please send them to Cathryn McCue at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.
by CNB