
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 13, 1995                   TAG: 9509130012
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VA. RIVERS

VIRGINIA'S rivers are considerably cleaner today than they would be, were it not for anti-pollution controls on factories and sewer plants stricter than were applied a few decades ago. It's helped, too, that more environmentally sensitive farmers have reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides, and local governments have improved storm-water management.

The state's waters are far from pristine, of course. Some segments of the rivers, streams and creeks run foul, so sludgy with pollutants that they are a health hazard for fish and humans. About 745 miles of state rivers are reportedly too contaminated to meet Virginia standards - standards intended to assure that the water is safe for swimming or fishing or as habitats for fish and other marine life.

But these 745 miles represent only about 3 percent of the 28,000 miles of rivers that are monitored by the state for pollution. That's more than just a drop in the bucket. It speaks to the continuing need for diligence in reducing pollution. It does not suggest an environmental crisis.

Neither, however, does it offer cause for complacency.

Tom Hopkins, Virginia's deputy secretary of natural resources, says the Allen administration is committed to working with local governments, farmers and other groups to continue cleaning up the state's waterways. Good. We'd like to see evidence of this commitment in practice.

Under existing rules of the Environmental Protection Agency, the state is compelled to make plans for cleaning up dirty waters. Yet there is no specific timetable for the cleanup. With Congress seemingly in a mood to undo environmental protections already in place, a genuine commitment by state leaders is necessary.

Meanwhile, the state's Department of Environmental Quality will soon publicize for the first time a comprehensive list telling the public where the rivers are rank with human and animal waste, tainted storm water or toxic chemicals. Excellent.

Though the DEQ has tracked river pollution for years, its findings were practically a state secret. Now it plans to advertise the list, and make it more user-friendly as the roster is updated from year to year.

That's a welcome move, given that one purpose of clean-water regulations is to protect the public from venturing into troubled waters. But safe avoidance of polluted rivers is not the only purpose. Periodic publication of the list might serve another aim as well: The public could track the trackers' progress in defending the life of Virginia rivers.

by CNB