THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606250004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 52 lines
Hundreds of people gathered at Nauticus in downtown Norfolk last week to toast the Elizabeth River and unveil a plan to clean it up.
They drank to the river, not from it, for the historic waterway is a veritable chemistry set after decades of industrial use.
But they were of good cheer, for they have an 18-point plan, a good one cooperatively devised over four years by 500 individuals and businesses, all cajoled by the private Elizabeth River Project to do the right thing for the river.
Keynote speaker Charles Kuralt of TV fame told the throng of another river miracle, the rebirth of the Hudson River, just 30 years ago a 300-mile sewer. Kuralt, who lives near the river in New York, said swimming was allowed this summer for the first time in half a century. He ate Hudson River shad and roe last month for the first time in 30 years. ``People are falling in love with the Hudson again,'' he said, ``celebrating it again.''
The Elizabeth River could be a tougher waterway to clean, because 90 percent of its watershed is developed, with 500,000 people living within its 300 square-mile watershed. Along its 350 miles of shoreline are chemical factories, manufacturing plants, a huge trash incinerator and a shipyard that works on nuclear-powered warships. That's not to mention miles of pesticide- and fertilizer-doused lawns that drain into the river and the toxic crud that's buried in sandy bottom.
Kuralt insisted on speaking for free, and thousands of unpaid volunteers will have to do their parts, large and small, recycling oil and reducing pesticide and fertilizer use.
As staff writer Scott Harper reported Friday, ``. . . One of the more eye-opening revelations from the research conducted in preparing the plan is that stormwater runoff - from streets, lawns, storm drains and parking lots - is as much to blame as any smoke-breathing factory.''
The Elizabeth River will hardly be clean by this time next year. As several people noted, our children and grandchildren will benefit from efforts we make now. What could be more honorable than to prepare a better Hampton Roads for succeeding generations?
Government has a background role in the cleanup campaign, as presently envisioned, with citizens and businesses doing the bulk of the work.
``Action can be pushed by citizens - and should be pushed by citizens,'' said Victor McMahan, director of urban rivers programs for American Rivers, a national environmental organization in Washington. ``But a weak state or local government presence can only hope to produce a holding pattern, we've found.''
We'll see. We hope enthusiasm for the Elizabeth River restoration remains high, with miraculous results decades to come.
When one recalls that in January 1857 the Elizabeth River froze and horses and humans crossed with ease between Portsmouth and Norfolk, one can almost believe in miracles. by CNB