DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997              TAG: 9704170384

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SMITHFIELD                        LENGTH:  109 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** CLARIFICATION A story Thursday about the Pagan River includes a misleading comment. Keith Lupton, the owner of Pagan River Seafood Company, says he does not get most of his crabs from the Pagan, but from the James River. Correction published Saturday, April 19, 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** PAGAN MAKES TROUBLED-RIVERS LIST AN NATIONAL GROUP CITES POLLUTION FROM SMITHFIELD FOODS IN BAY TRIBUTARY

With marinas, seafood restaurants and historic homes dotting its quiet, marshy shores, the Pagan River does not look like one of the most troubled waterways in the United States.

But on Wednesday, a national environmental group labeled the Pagan just that.

The group, American Rivers, included this small, muddy Chesapeake Bay tributary on its annual list of the 20 most threatened rivers in the country, skipping other Virginia waterways that experts say are much more polluted.

The Elizabeth River in South Hampton Roads, for example, did not make the list, but in parts suffers from some of the most intense toxic contamination of any river on the Eastern Seaboard.

Beth Norcross, director of government affairs for American Rivers, blamed much of the Pagan's problem on Smithfield Foods Inc., the East Coast's largest pork processor, which has dumped millions of gallons of treated hog wastes and sewage into the river for decades.

The Pagan has been closed to shellfish harvesting since 1970 due to high levels of bacteria and is considered ``impaired,'' or unsafe for human contact, by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

``The threats are very real and have been that way for a very long time,'' Norcross said. ``We also wanted to draw attention to the threats and issues the hog industry poses for other rivers in the country, and not just the Pagan.''

She mentioned the Neuse River in North Carolina, which also made the list, as ailing from similar contaminants.

American Rivers, with 20,000 members, calls itself the nation's leading river conservation group. Organized in 1973, the group receives funding from donors, foundations and corporations.

In compiling its list of threatened and endangered rivers, now in its 12th year, the group used scientific data, government reports and ``a desire to draw attention'' to certain environmental issues, Norcross explained.

Smithfield Foods, which faces two government lawsuits over its environmental practices at company slaughterhouses in the town of Smithfield, declined comment on the listing.

``I'm sure they know all about it,'' company spokesman Aaron Trub said sarcastically when told of the group's announcement.

State environmental officials also were less than pleased with the announcement, noting that years of negotiation with Smithfield Foods are finally paying off.

T. March Bell, deputy director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, pointed out that the company already has connected its Gwaltney slaughterhouse to a public sewage treatment system; the other hog plant, Smithfield Packing, is expected to hook up in coming weeks.

Once connected to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, the company will effectively end its controversial discharging of wastes into the Pagan.

``Yes, we're concerned about the Pagan,'' Bell said, ``but at the same time, I don't think this group has calculated that these problems (with Smithfield) are about to stop. We kind of feel like waving the victory flag, actually.''

In its assessment, however, American Rivers criticized the state for not cracking down on Smithfield Foods sooner, citing similar complaints from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Indeed, this lack of enforcement was another reason for putting the Pagan on the list, Norcross said.

Local environmentalists agreed with the reasoning.

``The story of the Pagan is that you can't put off solutions, you can't slack on enforcing environmental laws,'' said Patti Jackson, executive director of the James River Association. ``The implications, as we're seeing, can be devastating.''

Asked if other Virginia rivers should be spotlighted for ongoing pollution problems, Jackson and other environmentalists said yes.

``Are there worse rivers? Sure,'' said Roy A. Hoagland, assistant director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia. ``But other rivers suffer from different pollutants. To me, the designation (of the Pagan) reflects its historic abuse.''

On Wednesday, however, few on the river seemed to notice the hoopla.

Eddie Reed of Franklin was enjoying the warm spring sun on his neck while catching catfish from a pier on the Pagan in downtown Smithfield.

``I don't see where there's any trouble,'' Reed said, proudly showing off about a dozen white-bellied catfish in his ice chest. ``I know a lot of people who fish down here. There's nothing wrong from what I can see.''

Asked to compare the conditions of the Pagan to other waters he fishes from, including the Blackwater River, Reed said simply: ``About the same.''

Down the road, on South Church Street, Keith Lupton was waiting for customers inside his Pagan River Seafood Company, located on the reed-covered banks of the river.

``They say it's pretty bad, but I don't really notice,'' Lupton said, noting that his fresh fish for sale comes mostly from other waters, although most of his crabs are pulled from the Pagan.

``I'll tell you what, though,'' Lupton added with a smile, ``a lot of people come in here and tell me I ought to change my company's name; they hear `Pagan River' and wonder if my stuff's OK.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map KEYWORDS: WATER POLLUTION SMITHFIELD FOOD

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