Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995 TAG: 9510300057
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO THE GREEN SCENE
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Monongohela National Forest, in West Virginia, and Virginia's George Washington and Jefferson National Forests recently issued an environmental assessment that would allow Thornwood Gas to build the pipeline.
The line would connect six existing natural gas wells drilled on the Monongohela in the mid-1960s to an existing commercial pipeline. Much of the line would run through the Monongohela. It would also run close to the western edge of the Laurel Fork ``special management area'' of the George Washington forest in Highland County.
Construction of the 34-mile ditch, plus clearing a 30-foot wide strip where there are no forest roads will result in siltation of some streams, wrote Ernie Dickerman in the group's October newsletter. Gas leaks could also damage resources.
In addition, the project will disturb wildlife and ``damage the present sense of solitude, quiet and naturalness sought by recreationists.''
The citizens are also worried that the pipeline would make it feasible for Thornwood or another company to drill for gas in the Laurel Fork area, which they have lobbied to protect as a designated wilderness area. They are encouraging citizens to send comments to the Forest Service by Nov. 15. Call 265-6054 for more information.
`Will work for paper, plastic, glass'
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has won a $100,000 federal grant to expand recycling markets - and create jobs.
The grant could create 50 new jobs, convert 10,000 tons of trash that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill into useful products, and attract $10 million in capital.
Virginia was one of 13 states or organizations that competed for the Environmental Protection Agency grant. The DEQ will use the grant to provide technical and financial assistance to recycling businesses, and will establish eight pilot projects where there is a lack of local recycling processes and manufacturing capacity, including Southwest Virginia.
Recycling creates nearly five times as many jobs as alternative waste disposal methods such as landfilling, according to the EPA. The national ``Jobs Through Recycling'' grant program, established last year, has created about 250 jobs and sparked more than $36 million in capital investments.
Another patch of land for posterity
The Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has added a unique marsh in Augusta County that harbors 14 rare plants to its growing system of natural preserves in the state.
Alcoa Corp. donated the 14-acre site to the conservation group to protect the rare wetland for future generations. The site, called the South River Preserve, abuts Alcoa's vinyl siding factory near Stuarts Draft.
``It's unusual for such a significant natural area to survive in the middle of an industrial site,'' said conservancy director Michael Lipford.
This type of spring-fed marsh was once common in the Shenandoah Valley, but disappeared as wetlands were drained for agriculture.
Among the plants found there are the whorled nutrush, baltic rush, prairie sedge, buckbean and four-flowered loosestrife - all common in parts of the Midwest and northern states, but extremely rare in Virginia.
``I have spent many hours nature-watching here, and it's good to know that the marsh will still be here for others to enjoy in the future,'' said Pat Haden, who managed the property for the past decade as environmental coordinator for the Alcoa plant.
The conservancy now owns 27 preserves in Virginia, including the Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve in Montgomery County.
Happy birthday, Green Scene!
Next week is the first anniversary of the Green Scene column. I remember the day I had the idea to start the column - the day my ``Great Local Environmental Stories To Do Someday'' pile tipped over and bonked me on the head.
``Gosh,'' I said to myself. ``There's so many neat things happening here, but I just don't have time to do full-blown stories on them all. But they deserve some ink. What to do, what to do....?''
Or something like that. Then it dawned on me - how about a bi-weekly wrapup of meetings, notices, events, people, announcements, projects and other environmental stuff that focuses on local issues?
A brilliant idea, obviously. And, thanks to those of you who have sent me press releases and called me with tips and the like, the column has been a success. (I wouldn't print that without having it confirmed by Managing Editor Bill Warren.)
But my ``Ideas for Green Scene'' folder is shrinking fast. I need more, more, MORE! So I ask, please keep your eyes and ears peeled and help fatten my folder. Write me at Green Scene, P.O. Box 2491, The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Va., 24010, or fax me at (540) 981-3346. Thanks.
(If you don't have any ideas to send, I'll accept birthday cake. Chocolate preferred.)
by CNB