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

DATE: MONDAY, November 27, 1995                   TAG: 9511270074
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

CRITICS: DIRTY-WATER LIST TOO CLUTTERED TO READ

Virginia's first comprehensive list of polluted rivers is so technical that the average person barely can read it, critics say.

Complaints about scientific jargon dominated the 75 phone calls and five written comments received by state officials who prepared the list.

The list is so tough to understand that it's useless, said Deanna Sampson, a staff member for the Virginia Conservation Network, an umbrella organization for environmental groups.

Ronald Gregory, DEQ chief of water quality assessments, said the first list was highly technical because it will go to Environmental Protection Agency scientists. The next list will include fact sheets, written in layman's language, that will spell out pollution problems, locations and causes, he said. He also plans to plot tainted rivers on a map. The list will be updated this spring.

Virginia's list shows 745 miles of rivers fail to meet clean-water standards and 137 miles of rivers are at risk of being polluted by discharges from factories and sewer plants. Troubled waters include portions of major rivers such as the James and Appomattox, small mountain streams and even unnamed creeks.

by CNB