Degraded Clinch and Powell Rivers Get Federal, State Help
ATLANTA, Georgia, January 3, 2008 (ENS) – State agencies from Virginia and Tennessee have signed an agreement with two regions of the federal Environmental Protection Agency to protect and restore the Clinch and Powell Rivers that flow through the two states.
On December 21, EPA Regions 3 and 4 signed a memo of understanding with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.
The memo establishes a working group for coordinating the efforts and enhancing communication among the agencies to protect and restore the two rivers.
These five agencies have the responsibility for administering the Clean Water Act and the corresponding state laws in Tennessee and Virginia.
“Leveraging the resources of all five federal and state agencies will strengthen our efforts to preserve and restore the Clinch and Powell Rivers,” said EPA Regional Administrator Jimmy Palmer. “By bridging the boundaries between our agencies and reaching out to other river stakeholders, we can better manage these critical public resources.”
Trout Unlimited erosion control
project gets underway on the
banks of Coal Creek, a
tributary of the Clinch River.
(Photo courtesy CRTU)
There are also many other governmental agencies and non-governmental environmental and conservation organizations that have demonstrated an interest in and commitment to these two rivers. It is the intent of the signatories to continue to work with such other organizations to accomplish common goals, Palmer said.
“The Clinch and Powell rivers form a globally significant system that demands a concerted effort to protect it,” said David Paylor, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. “We in Virginia are pleased to see these agencies working together on such an important project.”
The Clinch and Powell Rivers originate in the mountains of southwestern Virginia and flow southwest into Tennessee, eventually flowing into the Tennessee River.
The watershed historically has been inhabited by the most diverse fish and mussel populations in North America, but human activities in the watershed, including coal mining and processing, agriculture, urbanization and the development of transportation corridors, have impacted the rivers and their mussels and fish.
Both rivers support populations of federally threatened and endangered fish and mussel species, and segments of both rivers have been designated as critical habitat some of these species.
“We’re claiming these two rivers and mobilizing actions to bring back their health,” said Donald Welsh, EPA mid-Atlantic regional director. “With increased momentum and support, we can begin to put measures in place that are protective of the rivers and effective in improving their water quality.”
The tasks to be accomplished under the agreement are both scientific and regulatory. More scientific research is required to determine the pollutants, diseases and habitat destruction that may be impacting aquatic life, and the best methods of treatment or prevention.
Regulatory decisions to be made include a determining whether the rivers are impaired. If they are designated as impaired, Total Maximum Daily Loads, TMDLs, may need to be developed.
A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant’s sources.
Permit conditions for future discharges into the rivers and appropriate restoration priorities will also be determined.
Through coordination and communication on all of these and other efforts regarding the rivers, the signatories said in a statement upon signing the agreement that they can provide for more efficient use of resources, reduced costs and reduced time required to take appropriate action to protect and preserve the rivers.
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