Applications are now available for the 2009 WV Make It Shine Statewide Cleanup.  This annual event is jointly sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Highways.  During the first two weeks of April, the WV Make It Shine program will provide resources such as cleanup materials, waste hauling and landfill fees to community groups volunteering to conduct litter cleanups on streams or public lands. 
More than 3,000 West Virginia citizens participated in last year’s statewide cleanup, removing more than 150 tons of litter and more than 4,000 tires from our state’s landscape.

The application deadline for those wishing to participate is February 15, 2009 and applications for this year’s cleanup may be obtained by contacting Travis Cooper of the WV Make It Shine Program at 1-800-322-5530, or by email at Travis.L.Cooper@wv.gov.

Applications may also be downloaded via the net by clicking here.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has initiated a project to reduce bacteria levels in the Ohio River.   Nearly 500 miles of the river are considered impaired because of elevated bacteria levels, which means that, at times, the river may not be suitable for recreational use.

In collaboration with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) and the six states that border the Ohio River, EPA will develop a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for bacteria in the river.  The Clean Water Act and U.S. EPA regulations require TMDLs for impaired waters.  A TMDL determines the maximum amount of a pollutant that a stream can receive and still support its designated uses; and is considered a clean-up plan for polluted streams and rivers.

Two public information meetings are planned along the Ohio River this January to discuss development of the bacteria TMDL.  The first meeting is scheduled for January 21 at the Williamstown City Hall, in the council chambers, 100 West 5th Street beginning at 6:30 p.m.  

The second meeting, which may be more convenient for stakeholders in West Virginia’s northern panhandle, is scheduled for January 22 at 1:30 p.m., at the Pennsylvania DEP office located at 500 Waterfront Drive in Pittsburgh. West Virginia DEP representatives will be available at both locations.

For more information, click here to visit the ORSANCO website.

Charleston - Today, Governor Joe Manchin III announced the recipients of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection REAP Recycling Assistance Grants. There were 35 individual applicants approved for amounts totaling more than $1.4 million. The grants were awarded to state solid waste authorities, county commissions, municipalities, private industries and nonprofit organizations. "Over the years, these grants have helped bring awareness of the importance of recycling to West Virginians of all ages," Governor Manchin said at the award ceremony. "Right now, the market for recyclable materials is down, but regardless of the selling price the need for recycling and the role it plays in the betterment of our state doesn't change." Funding for the recycling assistance program is generated through $1 assessment fee per ton of solid waste disposed of at in-state landfills and is provided by WV Code 22-15A-19(h) (1).

2009 REAP Recycling Assistance Grant Recipients

Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority $112,200
Boone County Commission $53,190
Town of Sutton $19,618
Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA $39,963
Huntington Area Habitat for Humanity, Inc. (ReStore) $55,075
Marshall University $65,000
Historic Fayetteville Convention & Visitors Bureau $59,350
Region 8 Solid Waste Authority $20,000
Greenbrier County Schools $26,389
Enterprise Sanitation $63,550
Town of Belle $4,000
Recycling Coalition of WV $42,525
Lincoln County Solid Waste Authority $25,800
City of Bluefield $37,100
City of Princeton $3,500
Shawnee Scrap $17,200
Mon County Habitat for Humanity $43,600
PC Renewal $13,000
New River Trading $49,328
City of Summersville $24,000
Town of Terra Alta $19,375
Putnam County Solid Waste Authority $53,200
Control Products $35,000
Summers County Commission $50,400
Refuse Control Systems $56,354
Taylor County Solid Waste Authority $51,429
City of Buckhannon $75,000
West Virginia Wesleyan College $6,500
Upshur County Solid Waste Authority $17,230
Wayne County Solid Waste Authority $38,560
Trappers Den $35,000
Harold's Refuse Removal $22,300
City of Parkersburg $77,000
West Virginia University at Parkersburg $44,831
Wyoming County Commission $54,500

The DEP has submitted the Draft 2008 West Virginia Integrated Water Quality and Assessment Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.  The Integrated Report, complete with the Section 303(d) list was sent to EPA’s Region III office on October 17, 2008.  To view the documents, please follow this link, www.wvdep.org/wv303d.

In an effort to increase efficiency, reduce paper consumption and take advantage of available technology, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will begin accepting mining permits and discharge monitoring reports electronically beginning in 2009. Background Water Quality information associated with Electronic Permitting Applications will be accepted via file uploads to the EQuIS Chemistry System.

To train representatives from the mining industry on the electronic permitting process and municipal and industrial entities on the process for filing electronic discharge monitoring reports, the DEP is offering training from now through December.

While filing discharge monitoring reports electronically will remain optional, all mining permit applications submitted to the Division of Mining and Reclamation will be required to be filed electronically after January 1, 2009.

The training sessions will take place at the DEP Headquarters, located at 601 57th Street SE in Charleston.

For Division of Mining and Reclamation ePermitting training dates and times, click here.

For Division of Mining and Reclamation eDMR training dates and times, click here.

For Division of Mining and Reclamation EQuIS Background Water Quality training schedule, click here.

For Division of Water and Waste Management eDMR training, click here.

The Great Kanawha River Cleanup took place Saturday, Sept. 13. More than 100 volunteers from throughout the area volunteered to help at six sites along the river from Fayette, Kanawha and Putnam counties. The volunteers removed 6.89 tons of litter and debris, and 52 tires from the waters and banks of the Kanawha River.

Click the link below to view an additional photo

• Volunteers got up early Saturday, Sept. 13 to help clean up the Kanawha River.
  

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and West Virginia University have begun working together to study the potential for growing switchgrass on sites of former surface mines across the state.

Switchgrass is a tall grass that grows from three- to ten-feet tall, has a deep root system and grows annually after harvesting. It is often used to rehabilitate exhausted croplands by rebuilding soil structure, nutrients and organic matter. Switchgrass can also be converted to ethanol, which is a flammable alcohol and can be made by fermenting plant products such as corn, barley, wood and straw.

"Last year, 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop was used to produce five billion gallons of ethanol, which is about one percent of petroleum consumption in the United States," said Paul Ziemkiewicz, PhD, with the WVU Water Research Institute. "If our entire corn crop went to ethanol production, it would only replace seven percent of our annual petroleum use. In addition to competing for limited cropland, corn-based ethanol production consumes nearly as much energy as it produces."

According to a recent report by the National Academy of Science, the net energy yield of switchgrass ethanol was about six times better than corn ethanol.

"While corn ethanol will continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we clearly need to develop additional sources for ethanol production," said Governor Joe Manchin III. "This study is designed to provide us the information we need to determine whether developing a switchgrass-based industry in West Virginia is the direction we want to go."

"Large surface mines can range from 1,000 to 12,000 acres; many have road networks, access to transportation, water, utilities and even locations for ethanol processing facilities," said Ken Ellison, Director of the WVDEP Division of Land Restoration. "But first, we need to know how many tons of switchgrass hay will be produced on an acre of mined land, track developments in ethanol conversion technology and the economics of ethanol production and processing."

  The project will be managed by the Water Research Institute at WVU. The researchers will test the performance of three switchgrass varieties in large, ten-acre plots in both northern and southern West Virginia. Hay yields and carbon sequestration will be measured over a seven-year period; and researchers will document costs related to switchgrass plot establishment, harvesting and maintenance.  

"This project is an example of the DEP's continuing effort to find productive uses for mine lands," said Stephanie Timmermeyer, Cabinet Secretary for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. "If we discover that growing switchgrass on these lands is a successful endeavor, it is the perfect example of an enterprising and environmentally healthy use of those lands."