The Latest

Success Spotlight: Middle Creek, VA

Mined-Land Restoration Improves Middle Creek's Benthic Population

Article Tools

  • RSS
  • Save
  • Print
  • Email
Create a Link to this Article

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Comments

EPA's Clean Water Act Section 319 Program provides funding for restoration of nonpoint source-impaired water bodies. Success stories are posted at http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/. This week's success spotlight shines on Middle Creek, Virginia.

Pollution from decades of coal mining affected the health of the aquatic biological community in Virginia's Middle Creek. As a result, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added an 11-mile segment of Middle Creek to the state's list of impaired waters in 1998 because of violations of the General Standard, which requires that all state waters be free of substances that harm aquatic life. Between 2000 and 2005, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy's Department of Mined Lands and Reclamation implemented mined-land best management practices. Post-best management practice water quality monitoring indicated significant water quality improvements, prompting DEQ to remove Middle Creek from the list of impaired waters in 2006.

For more information on this story, visit http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/va_middle.cfm.

Source: US EPA



Advertisement]
Are you a print subscriber? Join today for free!

What Do You Think?

 

Be the first to tell us what you think!

Post a Comment

Note from the Editor: The content that appears in our "Comments" section is supplied to us by outside, third-party readers, and organizations and does not necessarily reflect the view of our staff or Forester Media—in fact, we may not agree with it—and we do not endorse, warrant, or otherwise take responsibility for any content supplied by third parties that appear on our website. All comments are subject to approval.

CAPTCHA Validation
CAPTCHA
Code:
: 
: