THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502110037
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Shipbuilders, writers, career bureaucrats - they owe parts of their lives and livelihoods to the Elizabeth River. The region drew from the river; they are trying to rejuvenate it.
They have not held a single public hearing. No one votes on what they do. Their thinking is, government did not pollute the river, we did. Repairing the damage is our job, too.
So they created the Elizabeth River Project.
The project is not about budgets, political campaigns, or harsh battles over votes in a council chamber. It is about doing what you can and finding common ground where you may not have thought it existed - on an old, slow-moving tidal waterway called the Elizabeth River.
Like many rivers, it inspires deep affection and loyalty among those living on its shores. Four of them - Marjorie Mayfield, Sharon Adams, Michael Kensler, and Robert Dean - met in 1991 around a kitchen table at Adams' house.
They decided to tackle cleaning the river in a way very different from the government agencies, lobbying groups, or environmental activists who had been working on the problem for years.
They would not try to accumulate a large, dues-paying membership. They would not begin by making demands of government or industry. Most importantly, they would be inclusive.
In 1992, they began by interviewing 65 citizens, business executives and community leaders about the Elizabeth River.
They learned that people considered the Elizabeth the region's lifeblood and that pollution was the river's worst problem.
Later that year, they began finding partners, likely and unlikely. Early on, for instance, they enlisted Tom Ackiss, a vice president at Lyon Shipyard.
Shipyards, with their heavy industry sitting on its banks, have been considered a chief risk to the river. But Ackiss brought more than his business background to the table. He grew up here, fishing and swimming around the Pungo area.
By late 1992, 30 people from diverse backgrounds had formed the board of the Elizabeth River Project. They drew up a long-range, four-step method: figuring out what the risks are, deciding which are the most pressing, finding ways to address those risks and taking action.
They also began with a question, seeking a common ground everyone could agree on: What are the threats to the river?
Adams, director of the Virginia Beach SPCA, is a co-founder and president of the project's board.
``We expected to find folks who were not very hopeful, who were somewhat cynical about the river,'' she said. ``That was not what we found. We found people who thought we had not done very well by the river, who thought there was more we could do.''
The group determined not to rush into identifying the river's problems.
In 1993, the project applied for enough federal and private grants to support a part-time staff person, and prepared for a conference to begin examining the threats to the river.
Also in 1993, the group set up a permanent office in downtown Norfolk for the project, and last March, received enough grant money to install one of the founders, Marjorie Mayfield, as director.
By May 1994, the group had agreed on the risks. For the following six months, volunteers investigated them. Local scientists, academic experts, and staff members of state and federal agencies produced 11 papers on subjects ranging from ``Hazardous Materials Transport and Storage'' to ``Dredging and Dredged Material Placement'' and ``Non-Indigenous Species.''
Division cropped up in November, when about 50 members of the project met for two days to rank the 10 risks by importance.
They agreed on all but one, the threat from pollutants that come from a single, identifiable source.
This risk was a challenge, since the members included owners of plants that might be producing this type of pollution.
Environmental laws long have targeted such sources because they're the easiest to identify and clean. The question the group foundered on was whether they were still a high or medium risk to the Elizabeth.
It was a crucial moment in the project's life.
``Sharon Adams always said, `Make sure you leave your hat at the door,' '' said Susan Cofer, a former teacher and an active member of the project. ``But that's hard to do. Someone who works at a point source on the Elizabeth River might be following all the rules and the practices expected of them, and they don't want to be told they're a high risk to the river.''
The group's goal was to agree on every issue, but it became clear that was impossible. The group finally had to rely on a vote - and the majority decided to rank point-source pollution as a high risk.
The Elizabeth River Project held its second annual conference in January, unveiling its ranking of risks to the river and beginning to talk about how to attack them.
Ackiss sees the coming year as critical for the project: ``There's potential for friction when we get into the risk-management phase. It's yet to be seen how this will unfold.''
The group is organizing task forces to address each of the most pressing problems - water quality, sediment quality, and habitat restoration - and to research methods of handling them.
The task forces will report back in the spring of 1996. The project could then head in several directions: education, legislation, individual action, combined efforts by the public and private sectors, and community fund raising.
Adams is optimistic. She does not believe people in Hampton Roads are cynical or disenchanted. Of the enthusiasm and cooperation the group has fostered so far, she said, ``In this era of carping and complaining and playing the blame game, I think it's a very healthy sign in our community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
Marjorie Mayfield, left, and Ray Moses stand on the banks of the
Elizabeth River. Mayfield was a founder of the Elizabeth River
Project. Moses, a retired admiral, is the president of the board.
Graphic
ELIZABETH RIVER PROJECT
After reports from task forces, due in spring 1996, the project
could head in several directions: education, legislation, combined
efforts by the public and private sectors. For details, call
625-3648.
by CNB