The Shenandoah River and its inhabitants have been suffering from algal outbreaks for years now. We know that a principal source of the problem is nutrient runoff from agricultural operations, and we know that the fish kills directly result from the outbreaks. We also know that there are management practices, such as fencing herds of cattle out of streams, planting stream buffers, and limiting manure application to match crop needs, that would minimize nutrient pollution and their associated harmful algal outbreaks.
So, if we know the cause and we know the solutions, why is nutrient pollution allowed to continue? To make the question even more refined, why is Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) not doing more to address this problem? Always remember that the department is called “Environmental Quality” so we should be asking some hard questions.
Why, for example, does DEQ fight our effort to list the Shenandoah as impaired by nutrient pollution? Recall that Mark Frondorf, as Shenandoah Riverkeeper, and Potomac Riverkeeper Network filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency when it approved DEQ’s refusal to list the river as impaired; a finding of impairment would require DEQ to impose stricter standards to guard against nutrient pollution. That lawsuit was our only recourse against DEQ’s obstinate position. We lost that case, but we are appealing.
For years, we have been asking recreational users of the Shenandoah to take photos, including information about time and location of the algal outbreaks they observe. Our members and volunteers have filled our inboxes with such photos — and we have been submitting them to DEQ with a request for action. Last year, DEQ established a formal program for accepting detailed complaints, so we have been following that new detailed protocol. Despite your efforts to document pollution — and our efforts to use that documentation for advocacy and legal action — DEQ has not yet even begun the process to list the Shenandoah as impaired by nutrient pollution.
ALGAE REPORTS:
- 2019-06-20_Algae_North Fork_Edinburg_Complaint
- 2019-06-20_Algae_North Fork_Red Banks_Complaint
- 2019-06-20_Algae_North Fork_Woodstock_Complaint
- 2019-07-30_Algae_South Fork_Berrytown_Complaint
- 2019-07-30_Algae_South Fork_Island Ford_Complaint
- 2019-07-30_Algae_South Fork_South Elkton_Complaint
- 2019-08-02_Algae_Shenandoah River_Castlemans Ferry_Complaint
- 2019-08-02_Algae_Shenandoah River_River Road_Complaint
- 2019-08-05_Algae_South Fork_Eastham Park_Complaint
- 2019-08-02_Algae_Shenandoah River_Shepherds Island_Complaint
