Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503090017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Also, March 20 is the deadline for people who want to ensure their comments are included in the draft environmental-impact statement, scheduled for Oct. 20, on Appalachian Power Co.'s project. The Jefferson will continue to take comments after that, but will include them in the final report.
And lastly, the forest will issue a report sometime this month summarizing the 274 comments received from the public since July, and describing how it chose alternative routes.
Westvaco nixes chlorine
John A. Luke Jr., president and CEO of Westvaco Corp., the paper-making giant with a mill in Covington, announced last week the company would eliminate chlorine from its bleaching operations. The $140 million, two-year effort is the company's latest step to cut dioxin, a carcinogenic by-product, from its waste water effluent.
Westvaco has already reduced dioxin by 97 percent, and no longer detects any of the chemical in its effluent. The move affects all three Westvaco pulp-bleaching operations - in Covington, Maryland and Kentucky.
Luke also announced at the company's annual meeting in New York City an all-out research program to increase growth rates in hardwood species. Hardwoods are the main ingredient that go into making Covington's 2,400 tons a day of paperboard.
Westvaco will commit $4 million to expand a forest research facility in South Carolina, and increase its annual research budget by 40 percent, to $8.5 million. That includes a doubling of the biotechnology component of forest research, Luke said.
``Forest productivity and growth rates in certain other parts of the world now exceed those in the United States,'' Luke said in a press release. ``Further, regulatory and social policy is now beginning to limit to some degree the availability of forest production in some areas of the United States.''
Groups urge land purchases
The federal government should acquire resource-rich lands in Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, Manassas National Battlefield Park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail, according to a report by 53 conservation groups issued last month.
Other Virginia areas cited were Back Bay and James River national wildlife refuges, and a proposed refuge along the Rappahannock River, home to the largest wintering bald-eagle roost in the state.
"Guest River Gorge is one of the great attractions of Mount Rogers," said Shirl Parsons, with the Southeast regional office of The Wilderness Society, which coordinated publication of the report. Purchase of nearby parcels would protect waterfalls, river rapids and high cliffs.
All together, the groups propose purchases in 45 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for fiscal year 1996. The Clinton administration has proposed spending $235 million for land acquisition, paid for by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which derives almost all its money from offshore oil drilling royalties.
In Virginia, the administration is proposing a total of 17,519 acres for almost $24 million. That includes 8,600 acres along the Appalachian Trail, 1,000 acres along the parkway, and 4,600 acres at Mount Rogers.
The conservation groups also recommend the federal government appropriate matching funds for states and localities for open space and recreation projects. More than 35,000 projects have already been funded in the U.S., including in Norfolk, Charlottesville and Richmond.
Mark your calendar
There's lots to do and learn in March, so leave your winter doldrums behind.
March 14, at 7:30 p.m.: Land use planning expert and president of the Piedmont Environmental Council Bob Dennis will present a lecture and video on "Preserving the Natural Beauty of the Roanoke Valley," at the Science Museum Planetarium, Center in the Square.
Dennis is an expert on conservation easements and land trusts that protect privately owned open space for growth management purposes. His talk will be tailored for those who want to protect Roanoke Valley's ridgelines, the Blue Ridge Parkway, river corridors, greenways and other natural resources. He will also give a talk to the Kiwanis Club at 1 p.m. on March 15.
March 16, 7 p.m.: The Blue Ridge Environmental Network holds its monthly meeting, 5th floor of the Science Museum. Members will discuss plans for Earth Day 1995, April 22.
March 21, 4-6 p.m.: The U.S. Forest Service holds a working meeting to discuss visibility in the Southern Appalachian region forests. The agency, combined with other state and federal agencies, is assessing numerous natural resources of the region to help revise land management plans for several southern forests, including the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. The public is invited to attend, comment and ask questions.
March 28, 7 p.m.: The Sierra Club, Roanoke River Group holds its monthly meeting (also, 5th floor of the Science Museum) to discuss greenways for Roanoke.
April 1: Clean Valley Day, sponsored by the Clean Valley Council. (More in upcoming Green Scenes.) And Virginia's Explore Park opens.
April 22: Earth Day. Celebration and programs at Explore (more later) and valleywide Hazardous Waste collection day, sponsored by Clean Valley Council.
\ This ran in the Green Scene March 13, 1995
Correction
An item that ran in this column last week noted that Westvaco Corp. had announced plans to eliminate chlorine from its pulp-bleaching processes, including at the plant in Covington.
That's not entirely correct. The company will eliminate the use of "elemental" chlorine - a small difference on paper, company spokesman Robert Crockett says, but a big difference within the industry and environmental regulatory circles.
"There are chlorine containing compounds commonly used for pulp-bleaching which do not generate trace levels of dioxin sometimes associated with the use of elemental chlorine," Crockett explained. Westvaco will continue to use those other compounds, while spending $140 million and two years to eliminate the "elemental" chlorine.
Crockett also noted that dioxin, a carcinogenic by-product, is no longer detected in Westvaco's effluent.
\ This ran in the Green Scene Mar. 27, 1995
Oops...
Thanks to astute readers Frank O. Smith of Montvale and Don Francis of Marion, who pointed out a mistake in the last Green Scene. The Guest River Gorge is NOT in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area. The natural feature is located in Wise County, near Coeburn, in the Clinch Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***