ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Pagan River, at the center of a state pollution lawsuit against Smithfield Foods, failed to make Virginia's official list of polluted rivers.
The omission has made environmental groups suspicious about the list.
The Pagan met all state water quality standards for the two years ending March 31, 1995, according to a draft report released by the state.
But Aug. 30, the state filed a lawsuit seeking up to $2 million in fines against Smithfield Foods, charging that the company was illegally dumping slaughterhouse waste into the Pagan River.
State officials contend the list is based on objective testing and that the tests show the Pagan is not that dirty.
``We can't be arbitrary and capricious,'' said Charles Martin, an environmental engineer who compiles the list for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. ``We've got to have the data to support listing the Pagan and, at this time, we don't have the data.''
Kay Slaughter of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville found that hard to believe. State records indicate Smithfield Foods has violated its pollution permit more than 50 times in the last two years, Slaughter said.
``There has to be something wrong with the measuring,'' she said.
The federal Clean Water Act requires states to submit a list of waterways that don't meet minimum water quality standards to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency every two years.
Virginia's most recent list, released in April, showed that 95 percent of the 29,243 miles of rivers and streams tested by the state, including the Pagan, met the minimum standards.
Nationwide, only about two-thirds of rivers and streams tested meet water quality standards, according to the EPA. Claims that Virginia's waterways are so much cleaner stretch credibility, said Patricia Jackson, director of the James River Association.
``Either we're doing something a whole lot better than the rest of the country or we're not measuring violations of water quality standards,'' Jackson said. ``I think the whole report is suspect. And I think the Pagan's a perfect example.''
Martin said Virginia waters meet federal standards because waters are cleaner here than in other states and because Virginia monitors more river miles than other states.
``We do focus on the problem areas where we expect violations,'' he said. ``But we also monitor a lot of miles where we don't have problems. And by and large, the waters of Virginia are in pretty good shape.''
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB