Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993                   TAG: 9307290075
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEW LOGGING POLLUTION LAW HAS MORE BITE THAN BARK

The law allows the Virginia Department of Forestry to close down any logging operation that it determines is polluting waterways. The law, which took effect July 1, also allows the state to fine logging operators $5,000 a day for each day they violate water quality standards.

The measure gives the Department of Forestry some teeth in enforcing what otherwise had been a voluntary program to reduce water pollution by the logging industry. Logging and wood products make up Virginia's second-largest industry, after agriculture.

Previously, the state only could recommend that loggers comply with what it calls "best management practices" for limiting water pollution. Most problems from logging stem from soil runoff into rivers and streams.

However, this sediment pollution is not a particularly serious problem, says Mike Foreman, chief of forest resources utilization at the Department of Forestry headquarters in Charlottesville.

Foreman said that logging contributes only about 5 percent of the total soil runoff into the state's waterways. Further, he said, fewer than 10 percent of the logging operations in Virginia cause any real trouble.

Since July 1, only one logging operation in the state has been cited for not following the recommended soil and land management practices. The problems were corrected before the logging operation was ordered to close down or hit with a fine, Foreman said.

Generally, he said, the logging industry in Virginia has been cooperative in implementing practices to reduce sediment pollution. These have included leaving a 50-foot buffer zone of trees along waterways, and diverting runoff from logging roads to prevent erosion.

In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has ranked the state's voluntary sediment control program among the top five in the country for protecting water quality from the effects of logging. Excess sediment in streams and rivers can hurt aquatic life.

"Our industry has tried to act responsibly," said Randy Bush, executive director of the Lumber Manufacturers' Association of Virginia, which represents logging interests.

Bush said the new law should have little impact on most logging operations. "If a harvester is using best management practices, then he probably doesn't know this law exists," he said.

Some might question then why was it necessary?

The measure was passed by the General Assembly this year and had the support from several environmental groups, including the Virginia Wildlife Federation and the Virginia Forestry Association.

The law is intended more for potential violators, said Foreman at the Department of Forestry. It also allows the state to go after landowners, as well as the loggers.

"We can hold them equally liable," he said.

Foreman cautioned landowners to ensure their contracts with logging operators include assurances that the proper water pollution controls are implemented. More than 75 percent of Virginia's forestland is privately held.

Apparently, the law was passed in response to a logging operation in Chesterfield County outside Richmond that failed to control sedimentation from running into a subdivision lake, Foreman said.

Such cases are not common, says Bob Kennedy, a forester in Bedford County who inspects logging sites for the state. But he said it is good to now have some additional enforcement muscle if it is needed.

"What this law is going to do is get the occasional rogue logger in line," he said.