Recent monitoring shows high levels of banned pesticide in two Charlottesville streams

DEQ field staff take samples of sediment from the bottom of streams in order to test them for toxics. (Photo/DEQ)

Recent Virginia Department of Environmental Quality sediment sampling in two Charlottesville area streams showed very high levels of chlordane. Chlordane is an organic pesticide that was historically used on crops and for termite control before being banned by the EPA in the 1980s. It is moderate to highly toxic through all routes of exposure to humans, causing headaches, dizziness, vision problems, irritability, weakness, muscle twitching, and occasionally, convulsions. Chlordane is also highly toxic to birds, fish, macroinvertebrates and other insects.

Sediment sampling for toxic constituents was conducted as part of a pollutant study known as a total maximum daily load development study in the Rivanna River watershed. DEQ monitoring revealed concentrations of chlordane in Meadow Creek and Schenks Branch that were 40 and 1,000 times higher, respectively, than EPA’s toxics screening values for soils. These unusually high chlordane levels may be linked to a legacy contamination site or a spill event. As a result of the monitoring data, DEQ Valley Regional Office and Central Office staff have jointly developed a special study. Additional sampling will begin in January to attempt to isolate the location of the source of the contamination. Schenks Branch runs through McIntire Park, then into Meadow Creek. This study will be coordinated with the City of Charlottesville. For more information about water quality monitoring and sediment sampling in Virginia, visit DEQ's web page.

Don Kain, DEQ Valley Regional Office and Roger Stewart, DEQ Central Office

First propane school bus fleet in Virginia unveiled

Gloucester County Public Schools bus drivers and Roger Kelly, director of Transportation Gloucester County Public Schools, stand in front of the first propane school bus fleet in Virginia during a ceremony on Oct. 26, 2009. (Photo/Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association)

The first propane school bus fleet in Virginia was unveiled on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, in Gloucester County during a ceremony celebrated by Congressman Robert Wittman, Delegate Harvey Morgan and the Department of Environmental Quality. Five diesel-powered school buses were replaced with propone school buses at Page Middle School in Gloucester County. The new buses will significantly decrease vehicle emissions, save the county money, and provide an opportunity for students and the community to learn first-hand about alternative transportation technologies. Gloucester County Public Schools estimates they will save $1.50/gallon in fuel costs and more in maintenance costs due to the cleaner engine and prolonged oil change intervals.

The Virginia Clean Diesel Program is supported by the EPA and administered by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association. Virginia Clean Cities worked with Gloucester County Public Schools for more than a year to develop the project, and was contracted by the Air Management Association to assist with project management. A $221,355 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act EPA National Clean Diesel Program funded half of the project and Gloucester County Public Schools funded the remaining amount. To learn more about this project and alternative fuels visit www.hrccc.org.

Virginia Clean Cities/DEQ Air Division

Keeping medications out of lakes and rivers

Unused, unwanted or expired medications flushed in toilets and down sinks can end up in groundwater, lakes and rivers. To help keep these sources of drinking water clear of medications, Ukrop’s pharmacies are now accepting legal pharmaceuticals at no charge. The medications are put in a container that is sealed and picked up by a recycler who incinerates them. To find a pharmacy near you, view the list of Ukrop’s pharmacies.

Residents can also safely dispose of medications by following the four steps listed below:

• Step 1: Empty the pill bottle into a closable plastic bag or container. Try not to handle the medications since some are absorbed through the skin. Crush the pills or dissolve them with liquid to render them unrecognizable as medications.
• Step 2: Mix in used coffee grounds, used kitty litter, or other material undesirable to pets and children. Seal the bag or close the plastic container. An additional safeguard would be to put the bag of medications into another container so that the contents cannot be seen.
• Step 3: Put the bag or plastic container in the trash can.
• Step 4: Remove the label or mark out your identifying information on the pill bottle label to safeguard personal information.

For more information about the transport and disposal of pharmaceuticals, visit DEQ’s web site.

Deborah L. DeBiasi, DEQ Central Office

DEQ staff support natural resource conservation at the State Fair

Governor Tim Kaine spends time with Virginia DEQ staff member Bob Ehrhart, environmental program manager, on Oct. 2, 2009, at the Virginia State Fair. (Photo/Governor’s Office)

More than 30 Virginia Department of Environmental Quality staff helped educate an estimated 1,900 visitors about natural resource conservation at the State Fair Meadow Farm fairgrounds Sept. 24 – Oct. 4, 2009. DEQ shared exhibit space with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Department of Historic Resources to present information on the benefits of wetlands and why they are protected in Virginia.

Visitors watched a wetlands demonstration, learned about the animals that depend on them for food and shelter, explored the common wetlands soil types and discovered how wetlands clean water and prevent flooding. Exhibit materials were developed by the DEQ Office of Wetlands and Water Protection and the Office of Environmental Education. Visit DEQ's web page for more information about wetlands.

David Ruble, DEQ Central Office

DEQ assists in oil spill exercise

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Pollution Response Program, Office of Spill Response and Remediation, and Tidewater Regional Office participated in an industry-led, full-scale oil spill exercise to prepare for such events. The exercise took place on Oct. 28, 2009, at the Western Refinery on the York River. It was designed to help federal, state, and local emergency management teams better coordinate their individual and collaborative responses. During the day-long exercise, responders tested notification protocols and communications; deployed emergency response vessels and response equipment; and conducted helicopter overflights. Information learned from the exercise will be used to improve agency emergency response protocols.

Numerous organizations were involved in the drill including the U.S. Coast Guard, Western Refining-Yorktown, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia Marine Resource Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. John Giese, manager of the DEQ Office of Spill Response and Remediation, was actively involved with the pre-planning and design of the incident. Shawn Weimer, DEQ preparedness and response program specialist, provided technical support to the environmental unit during the exercise. John Settle and Tom Madigan, DEQ Tidewater Regional Office Pollution Response Program representatives, participated in the unified command as the state on-scene coordinator. Visit the DEQ Pollution Response Program web page for more information.

John Settle, DEQ Tidewater Regional Office

Volunteer monitoring is a success

DEQ Quality Assurance Coordinator James Beckley leads a coliscan training event for citizen water quality monitors in Virginia. (Photo/DEQ)

In 2008, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality trained the Poquoson Citizens for the Environment in the use Coliscan Easygel™ to monitor several waterbodies in Poquoson for fecal bacteria. The group now monitors 14 sites monthly to find potential sources of fecal bacteria that have resulted in the closing of nearby shellfish waters. The Coliscan Easygel™ monitoring tool detects E. coli which is the measure of fecal bacteria in water.

Recent monitoring at the Roberts Creek site detected E. coli bacteria levels well above state water quality standards. The group notified the Poquoson Public Works Department who performed a follow-up dye test. The test confirmed a significant leak in a sewer line where it crosses the stream. Thanks to the data collected by the Poquoson Citizens for the Environment trained monitors, the leak was identified and fixed. A week after repairing the leak, the monitors found that bacteria levels were within state water quality standards. More information about the group and their monitoring work is available at www.oystergardener.org.

DEQ helps in training approximately 150 Virginians in water quality monitoring techniques each year. To learn more about becoming a citizen water quality monitoring, visit the DEQ web page.

James Beckley, DEQ Central Office

Latest report shows Virginia’s recycling rate is steady

A Virginian recycles plastic bags on Aug. 5, 2009, at a recycling event hosted by Isle of Wight County at Smithfield Square Shopping Center in the Town of Smithfield. (Photo/Isle of Wight County)

The most recent annual recycling rate report shows that Virginia's commitment to recycling is steady at 38.5 percent for municipal and other solid wastes. The percentage represents 3,661,027 tons of material recycled or reused. The Department of Environmental Quality derives the recycling rate from reports submitted by the 71 solid waste planning regions in Virginia representing 324 cities, counties and towns.

The Virginia annual recycling report provides an overview of the materials recycled, the amount of waste disposed, and a list of the recycling rate reported by each solid waste planning region in 2008. The report is available on DEQ's website at www.deq.virginia.gov/recycle/.

The recycling rate of 38.5 percent exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's national goal of 35 percent by 2010 and is above the 2007 national rate of 33.4 percent. The state's 2008 recycling rate matched the recycling rate reported for 2007.

DEQ's recycling program works closely with recycling program managers, as well as with local governments and solid waste planning regions to ensure that their recycling programs are able to meet or exceed the state's mandated recycling rates.

DEQ Central Office

Volunteers participate in the Extreme Stream Makeover

Paula Nash, DEQ Blue Ridge Regional Office

Managing ground water in Virginia

Managing the largely unseen ground water resources of the Commonwealth may be getting more challenging. Virginia is looking for solutions that will ensure proper management of ground water supplies well into the future.

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David K. Paylor, DEQ Director