U.S. Water News Online
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State regulators have been inundated with letters from farmers and other landowners who object to new pollution restrictions on nearly 400 streams and rivers in West Virginia. The state Department of Environmental Protection has received more than 4,100 letters, including more than 1,600 from landowners in Tucker County. ``I think a lot of people see the new regulations as another intrusion by government in an area already inundated by the government,'' said Robert Burns, executive director of the Tucker County Development Authority. Tucker County is home to large tracts of government-owned land, including Monongahela National Forest, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Blackwater Falls State Park and Canaan Valley State Park. The DEP is finalizing a list of streams that would be protected under an anti-degradation rule adopted by the Legislature in 2001. Such streams are either clean enough to support brook trout populations or determined through testing to be unpolluted enough to qualify for a federal ``Tier 2.5'' designation, the second-highest rating. Federal law requires the anti-degradation rule to keep streams and rivers from becoming more polluted. West Virginia has had an anti-degradation policy for nearly 20 years, but never adopted rules to implement it. State regulators have held 14 public hearings around West Virginia since March to gather input on the rule. ``There have been some incredibly hostile audiences at some of these meetings,'' said DEP spokesman Andy Gallagher, even though farmers would be exempt ``if they use best management practices.'' He said the DEP is not ``asking anyone to fence off their streams from livestock, or preventing anyone from increasing the size of their herd. If you want to build a barn, go ahead.' Burns said farmers are concerned because ``the best management practices of farming aren't really defined, so people are still uncertain about what kinds of activities might be limited.'' Conservation groups also have criticized the anti-degradation rule, saying it is too lenient. Trout Unlimited has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Huntington challenging the DEP's tentative stream list. The group contends that an additional 950 miles of creeks and rivers flowing through state parks, forests and wildlife management areas should be included. Once the list is finalized, it will be turned over to the state Environmental Quality Board for review, and then to the Legislature for final approval. ``It could take two years to get to the final list,'' Gallagher said.
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