Gauley, Monongahela Among Nation's Most 'Endangered' Rivers
Charleston Gazette
2 June 2010
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Threats from continued mountaintop removal and
expanded oil and gas drilling have landed two West Virginia waterways
on an advocacy group's annual list of the nation's most endangered
rivers.
American Rivers put the Gauley and Monongahela in its yearly report,
America's Most Endangered Rivers, scheduled for release today.
The Washington, D.C.-based group cited ongoing mountaintop removal in
the Twentymile and Peters Creek watersheds as a major threat to the
Gauley and pollution from oil and gas drilling as a growing danger to
the Monongahela.
The No. 1 river on the 2010 endangered list is the Upper Delaware,
where gas drilling threatens the drinking water for 17 million people
across New York and Pennsylvania.
"The threats facing this year's rivers are more pressing than ever,
from gas drilling that could pollute the drinking water of millions of
people, to the construction of costly and unnecessary dams, to outdated
flood management that threatens public safety," said Rebecca Wodder,
president of American Rivers.
In its report on the Gauley, American Rivers noted that the river is
internationally known for its whitewater, but that coal mining in the
tributary watersheds "flattens mountaintops, buries streams under
debris and pollutes water."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and cooperating agencies must
stop the permitting of mine activity that harms the clean water and
natural areas that are essential to the health and heritage of
Appalachian communities," American Rivers said.
In 1988, the Gauley received some federal protections as the Gauley
River National Recreation Area, under legislation pushed through by
Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va. Rahall, though, has opposed EPA's efforts
to crack down on pollution from mountaintop removal mining.
Previously, American Rivers listed the Coal and Big Sandy rivers as
endangered because of mountaintop removal mining.
American Rivers said that the Monongahela provides "exceptional
wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and drinking water for
hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia and Pennsylvania."
But, the group said, the Mon has "become highly threatened by toxic
pollution arising from the recent surge of natural gas extraction
activities in the region overlying the Marcellus Shale formation.
"The federal government and the states of West Virginia and
Pennsylvania must act now to prevent further pollution associated with
Marcellus Shale exploration and protect the already highly vulnerable
water quality of the Monongahela River Basin," the group said.
In 2004, American Rivers listed the Mon -- along with the Allegheny
River -- as among the most endangered rivers, citing at the time the
millions of gallons of polluted coal-mining waters building up in old
mine tunnels.
Other rivers listed as endangered in this year's report included the
Sacramenta-San Joaquin River in California, the Little River in North
Carolina, the Cedar River in Iowa, the Upper Colorado River, the Chetco
River in Oregon, the Teton River in Idaho and the Coosa River in
Alabama.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.