Local watershed groups honored
from The
Morgan Messenger, June 3 , 2009
Warm Springs Watershed Association President Kate Lehman and Sleepy Creek Watersheq Association President Gale Foulds. West Virginia Watershed Network recognized watershed groups from all across West Virginia for their efforts in protecting and restoring local watersheds on November 13 at Blackwater Falls State Park during the 11th annual Watershed Celebration Day.
Over 100 volunteers attended the event and were given awards for their work to create partners, implement projects, educate the community and to monitor water quality to determine project success.
The WV Watershed Network recognized Sleepy Creek Watershed Association for its efforts in the Outreach and Education category. Winners of this award have demonstrated their ability to reach targeted community audiences with their water: shed message.
Winners have prQvided " successful watershed environmental education programming for their community. The outreach and educational efforts have improved public knowledge concem"ing the local watershed
and importance of clean water.
The Sleepy Creek Watershed Association (SCWA) has played an active part in the development of
the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy by developing a local watershed implementation plan and water quality remediation projects. Outreach and education programs have been an important element of their plan.
SCWA has educated septic installers and the public about the environmental benefits of properly functioning septic systems by researching and promoting programs that are available to residents for septic pumping, repair and replacement.
A partnership with Potomac Water Watch· and Friends of the Cacapon "River became an opportunity to sponsor and publicize a drug return program in Morgan County. The Morgan County Health Department agreed to receive ' all non-controlled consumer substances including pills and liquids for safe disposal.
SCWA secured a grant to research, write and publish its fifth educational brochure.
. How To Protect Endangered SpeFies In The Sleepy Creek Watershed introduces landowners to Harperella,
" Wood Turtles and Eastern Lampmussels.
SCWA's comprehensive watershed overview document published in February 2006 is used to enlighten local, state and federal officials and community leaders on the importance of maintaining Sleepy Creek as a healthy and vital watershed for the benefit of economic and environmental development. Local builders and developers have agreed to work with SCWA to maintain riparian buffers and incorporate rain gardens in subdivisions where possible.
The WV Watershed Network recognized the Wann Springs Watershed Association for their efforts in the Partners category. Winners of this award have demonstrated successful collaborative partnerships. These partnerships support watershed health, develop and/or improve their watershed organizations and the partner organizations sustainability, and strengthen the communities in which the watershed organization works.
Warm Springs Watershed Association has been successful this year by changing behavior and educating citizens through the creation of partnerships. The WSW A has created partnerships with the Ecology Coalition of Morgan County, Sleepy Creek Watershed Association, and Friends of the Cacapon River.
They also worked closely with governmental agencies such as the Town of Bath, the Eastern Panhandle Conservation District, the Potomac Headwaters Resource Conservation and Development Agency, the WV Department of Environmental Protection, and the WVU Extension office in Morgan County. Locally they established tied with businesses on the Run, including US Silica, Creekside Greamery, Nature Niche, Fairfax Coffee House, the Country Inn and Earth Dog Cafe.
Projects include efforts to eradicate invasive plants such as purple loosestrife, changed mowing practices, the involvement of students in water quality monitoring, sponsoring a conference to discuss and coordinate efforts for projects on or close to the Run, removing trash and leading wildflower hikes.
The WV Watershed Network is an informal association of interests with a mission to collaboratively support efforts and provide resources necessary to empower local residents tomake decisions for sustainable management of their resources.
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Help for failing septic systems
by F. Lee Fowler, Administrator
Morgan County Health Department
from The
Morgan Messenger, June 3 , 2009
The Morgan County Health Department is cooperating with the Sleepy Creek Watershed Project Team in assessing failing septic systems in the Sleepy Creek Watershed area. Grant funds are available to pay for much of the cost of the modification or replacement.
If a homeowner has a failing septic system, they may qualify for up to $7,200 to help pay for repair or replacement.
The homeowner is required
to pay the first $300 and any cost associated with the septic system that is more than $7,500.
Since most Class I standard septic systems cost less than this amount, it is possible that an entirely new system could be installed, costing the homeowner only $300.
The determination as to what type of septic system is needed to repair or replace is made by the sanitarian from the Health Department with the advice of certified septic installers.
Three estimate bids are necessary from a list of certified septic installers who agreed to work with the grant committee. The Sleepy Creek Project Team selects the best bid from those submitted.
This opportunity will be limited to the first 25 homeowners who qualify. There are no income requirements. The only requirements are a desire to clean up the Sleepy Creek Watershed by fixing failing systems and approval from the Sleepy Creek Project Team.
This may be the last opportunity for homeowners in the area to repair their septic systems.
There are also other projects underway that would provide funding for other watershed areas in the county. The Health Department also has information on low interest government loans for residents who need help financing septic projects.
If anyone is interested in these grant opportunities, contact Sanitarian Bob Stumpff at 304-258-1513, Ext. 19 or Sanitarian Bruce Ullom at Ext. 20.
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SCWA
hosts Water Monitoring Workshop for Girl Scouts
from The
Morgan Messenger, June 3 , 2009
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Community
Volunteer Day Honorees,
[Mike
McKechnie, 2009
SCWA Volunteer
of the Year -ed]
from The
Morgan Messenger,April
8, 2009
 The Sleepy
Creek Watershed Association honors
Mike McKechnie as its
2009 Volunteer of the
Year. He was an early
supporter of the association
and continues to be
a corporate sponsor
each year. He and his
wife Faith live in an
energy efficient, solar
and wind powered home
on Pious Ridge and are
expecting their first
baby in May.
He
was born in Huntington
Beach,
Calif., and traveled
with his family, living
for a while in The Netherlands
where he was first introduced
to consevative use of
energy.
His
family moved back to
the United States where
he finished high school
and went
to college. He was
graduated from Salisbury
State College in Maryland
with a degree in Cartography.
His
family moved to western
Virginia,
and he started looking
for a small town nearby
where he could
settle down. He discovered
Berkeley Springs and
moved here in 1993.
In 1995,
he and his brother Peter
McKechnie established
Mountain View Builders,
a company which builds
energy and resource
efficient green homes.
They have incorporated,
just last month, a sister
company, Mountain View
Solar and Wind, which
is designed to construct
renewable energy installations
for residences and small
businesses.
He
serves on the board
of directors of the
Morgan County Solid
Waste Authority, the
Home Consortium, and
the Berkeley Springs
Chamber of Commerce.
He is a member of the
Eastern Panhandle Homebuilders
Association and the
International Solar
Energy Society. He is
currently working with
a local group helping
the Berkeley Springs
High School renovate
the school greenhouse
and rehab it with solar
capabilities.
He
recently spent several
hours in Charleston
addressing the WV State
Senat Economic Development
Committee. There he
discussed renewable
energy and small businesses
in the West Virginia
houseing sector and
how these issues are
imnportant to sustainability
and growth in our state
economy.
The
Sleepy
Creek Watershed Association
chose him not only for
being an outspoken advocate
for energy conservation
and sustainable sources
of power, but also for
all he has done for
the Sleepy Creek Watershed
Association. During
their very first stream
bank restoration project,
he volunteered the use of
his earth moving equipment
to haul rocks and materials
to restructure the steam
bank.
He spent
the entire day driving
the machines and came
back on his own the
next day to finish alone.
He
also presented a very
well attended program
for the
SCWA semi-annual meeting
on improvements homeowners
can make to existing
homes which will improve
energy efficiency using
renewable energy technologies.
The association learned
they can call on him
when help is needed
with an on-the-ground
project or when technical
advice is needed.
Mike
McKechnie's faithful
support of the SCWA
is recognized as they
honor him as the Volunteer
of the Year.
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SCWA
cleans Rock Gap
Run
from The
Morgan Messenger,April
8, 2009
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Drug Return Program Now Has
Morgan County Location
from The
Morgan Messenger,April 1, 2009
First, the bad news. Pills, pills, pills -- we are swimming in them, quite literally, and drinking them too.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average number of retail prescriptions per capita in the U.S. has grown from 8.7 to 12.6 per year. This means that in America citizens are circulating — ingesting, excreting and dumping — billions of pharmaceuticals every 12 months.
Consequently, rivers and drinking water sources are filled with pharmaceuticals. In 2008, Associated Press reported its finding that “a vast array of pharmaceuticals” was found in the drinking water of 41 million Americans. This included antibiotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones.
Now, the good news. There is one aspect of this contamination that every person can do something about -- dispose of unused, expired and otherwise unwanted pills safely by returning them to a collection center instead of flushing them down the toilet or dumping them down the sink.
To help Potomac Water Watch is expanding the first-in-the-state West Virginia Consumer Drug Return Program. There are eight facilities located in seven towns in Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy and Grant counties.
“We are proud that this program now has a local collection center,” said Ron Wilson, president of Friends of the Cacapon River, one of the founding partners of Potomac Water Watch.
“We are working with the Morgan County Health Department because of its mission to provide solutions for a healthier Morgan County,” Wilson said.
“In addition, we encourage everyone to include cleaning out their medicine cabinets as part of a spring cleaning routine.” he said. “Every little thing that we do to help the Cacapon will also help thousands of people downstream.”
The first locations at which 20 consumers could safely dispose of unwanted drugs opened in 2008 in Moorefield and Petersburg. Those towns were selected because of the problem of fish kills and fish with sores that had occurred in that area of the South Branch of the Potomac River.
Fish kills and the condition known as “intersex,” in which male bass produced eggs, have also occurred in the Cacapon River and Sleepy Creek.
 “Ever since the first fish kills and intersex became known, our board was trying to think of ways to help alleviate the problem,” said Gale Foulds, president of the Sleepy Creek Watershed Association.
“Early on we tried to get local companies to start a take-back program but to no avail. We are concerned because Sleepy Creek has many problems,” Foulds said.
Sleepy Creek is on West Virginia’s 303D List, meaning it is an “impaired” stream. Nevertheless, the Sleepy Creek Watershed Association has been selected as a “Watershed of the Year” because of the work that the group has done to improve its condition.
“In addition to helping with clean-up, planting trees, reforming channels and helping homeowners clean out their septic systems, we are also concerned about caring for the aquatic life,” Foulds said.
“In Sleepy Creek, besides fish, we have endangered wood turtles and mussels, among others, that can be affected by pharmaceuticals that are disposed of improperly,” she said.
The localized aquatic anomalies that have occurred are believed to have been caused by contaminants in the waterways, in particular, endocrine disrupters. Many pharmaceuticals are endocrine disrupters that the U.S. Geological Survey has reported as being found in 80% of streams sampled in the United States.
“No one should be drinking someone else’s steroids or hormones,” said Dr. Margaret Janes of Potomac Water Watch, “The problem in large part stems from the fact that citizens have been told to dispose of medications down the toilet, but septic systems and municipal water treatment plants are not completely removing these contaminants from the water before it is returned to many homes as drinking water.”
Research has shown that even tiny amounts of endocrine disrupters can cause feminization of fish, and changes in the human reproductive and endocrine systems. A toxicologist in Australia has discovered that a low concentration mixture of 13 drugs can inhibit the growth of human embryonic kidney cells, for example.
Drugs don’t simply disappear after they are ingested and are not “washed away” by water systems when disposed of in the toilet. The only final destruction is incineration. The drugs collected by the Potomac Water Watch program will be incinerated by Clean Harbors Company in Utah.
Drinking water comes from many sources. River water, individual wells, springs and bottled water are all affected by pharmaceutical contamination.
The Potomac Water Watch Consumer Drug program is funded by the West Virginia Department of the Environmental Protection and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
Potomac Water Watch — with the motto “Protecting Your Water; Protecting Your Health” — is a volunteer organization of partners from West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment, Friends of the Cacapon River and is a supported partner of Potomac Headwaters RC&D.
Where to take pills
The overall message is: Never dispose of pills down the toilet or dump them down a drain.
All non-controlled, consumer substances, including pills and liquids, can be taken to one of these locations: Morgan County Health Department, Berkeley Springs; E. A. Hawse Medical Center, Baker; Pill Box Pharmacy, Franklin; CVX Pharmacy, Moorefield; Judy’s Drugs, Petersburg; CVS Pharmacy and Reed’s Drug Store, Romney; Wardensville Pharmacy, Wardensville.
If there is no location nearby, the substances may be mixed with used kitty litter or coffee grounds, place them in a sealable container and put in the trash. They should never be put in the toilet or down a drain.
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