Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508210074
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cathryn McCue
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On Tuesday, Mark Passeretti, manager of the Chi Chi's at Valley View Mall, will present a couple hundred used plastic dishwasher racks to the federal agency on behalf of the 205 stores in the nationwide chain.
Federal biologists will use the racks to quarantine a variety of species of freshwater mussels at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatcher in West Virginia, said regional director Kari Duncan.
"Otherwise, their populations are going to be seriously degraded," she said. Biologists will place one mussel in each of the 64 holes on each dishwasher rack, and hold them at the hatcher until the Zebra mussel invasion has passed, Duncan said.
Zebra mussels attach to anything hard, including the shells of other mussels, and compete with other species for food. They have quickly spread from the Great Lakes region south, overtaking local populations of mussels, clogging up public water works and forcing boaters to take extra precautions so they don't carry the Zebra mussels from one body of water to another.
Duncan said she called her brother, a manager at a Florida Chi Chi's, to ask for a few spare racks, and one thing led to another until it was a chainwide effort.
"I don't even know what they are, I've never seen them," said Passeretti of the mussels. Nonetheless, he agreed to be the collection point, since his store is closest to the hatchery.
Duncan said the mussels could remain in quarantine for a couple of years or longer.
News from the DEQ
The Department of Environmental Quality announced its support of an effort by Alleghany County and its citizens to seek federal money to help clean up the Kim-Stan landfill.
The county and the Mountain Soil and Water Conservation District have been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to find ways to biologically treat the contaminated runoff that seeps out of the landfill and into the Jackson River. The plan is to build a series of wetland channels with cattails and other vegetation that will degrade the contamination.
The Corps, through its Partners in Environmental Progress program, has applied for a $78,500 grant from the federal government. The DEQ would provide technical assistance.
Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop announced a new program to honor outstanding efforts by Virginia citizens, communities and businesses to enhance the state's natural resources.
The Virginia Environmental Stewardship Awards program is co-sponsored by the Virginia Petroleum Council.
Nominees will be evaluated based on their contributions to environmental projects or on-going activities. An independent panel will judge the nominations for four categories: youth, adult, organization and communication/education programs or projects. Nominations are being sought for an awards presentation next spring.
Contact Ann Regn at the DEQ at P.O. Box 10009, Richmond, VA 23240, or call her at (804) 762-4442.
The DEQ will distribute a total of $358,259 to 23 localities as their share of revenues generated from mining activities on federal lands over the past eight years.
Until now, the department had no program to distribute the money, which was going into the state's General Fund, said Janet Brooking, DEQ budget analyst.
"It apparently was floating around the system," she said. "No one agency took responsibility for it." The glitch was discovered a couple years ago, but wasn't acted upon until this year's General Assembly passed an amendment to distribute the funds.
In our area, Botetourt County will get $4,379; Craig County $7,707; Giles County $4,220, Montgomery County $1,213; Pulaski County $1,227; Roanoke County $196; Wythe County $3,813 and Rockbridge County $1,444.
These counties contain land in the George Washington and Jefferson National forests. The mining activities entail mostly natural-gas leases and limestone mining, Brooking said.
From now on, the DEQ will collect and distribute about $80,000 a year to the localities that fall under the federal reimbursement program.
Cathryn McCue covers the environment for this newspaper. Green Scenes runs every other Monday. Readers may send environmental tips, ideas, comments to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.
by CNB