CHESAPEAKE
For the past decade, environmentalists trying to restore the polluted Elizabeth River have chanted a curious, catchy slogan: "The goo must go!"
The goo is acres and acres of highly toxic contaminants, black and tarry and decades old, that have settled in the muddy bottom of the river, creating a poisonous slurry in hot spots where fish contract cancer and human skin burns after contact.
On Wednesday, environmentalists shouted a new phrase - "The goo is going!" - as heavy equipment scooped up and removed the first batch of toxic muck from the river, a move that officials and dignitaries called a historic step toward a healthier and cleaner Elizabeth.
"At last!" said a beaming Joe Thomas, president of the board of the Elizabeth River Project, an environmental group that had waited years for this day.
Dozens of politicians, scientists, engineers, activists, government officials and others intent on reviving the Elizabeth gathered under a tent to celebrate the event near the work site off Money Point, an industrial section of Chesapeake.
Much of the goo stemmed from a devastating fire in Money Point in the 1960s, when thousands of gallons of raw creosote - a tarlike wood preservative loaded with toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - spilled directly into the river.
After more than three years of planning and designing an appropriate cleanup, officials working with the Elizabeth River Project delighted in showing that construction had finally begun on their $1.2 million remedy.
About 500 tons of toxic goo have been removed from the Money Point site over the past two weeks, said Joe Rieger, a senior scientist and project manager for the Elizabeth River Project.
All the wastes were barged up the James River, unloaded there and carried to one of two final destinations, Rieger said - a landfill in Charles City County or a nearby incinerator, where the toxics are burned off and the purged mud underneath can be reused.
Tons of clean sand, about two feet deep, will be poured into the scar left at Money Point. On top of it, workers will plant a new tidal marsh. And next to the new marsh, about 3.3 acres of artificial oyster reefs will be shaped in a long, protective curve.
The system was described by Rieger and others as one of the first "living caps" engineered and built in U.S. waters.
"We are creating history here today," said Walter Priest, a wetlands expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who helped design the cap. "This is a voluntary cleanup, no one is making anyone do this."
The work is the first phase of a larger restoration effort in Money Point. Starting next summer, crews will dredge up 100 times as much goo, which is even more toxic, from river shallows just to the north, near where the old Eppinger & Russell creosote plant once stood.
That project is expected to cost roughly $11 million, Rieger said, though the environmental group only has about $5 million in hand today.
The current owner of the Eppinger & Russell site, Hess Corp., is designing a near-shore retaining wall that will be sunk into the ground. It will act as a barrier against any contaminants on land migrating into the river.
But the focus Wednesday was all about getting the cleanup started. Speakers recalled childhood memories of Money Point as a frightening wasteland.
Bill Cofer, an Elizabeth River Project officer, talked about sailing past the industrial waterfront as a kid growing up in the region and "seeing nothing living anywhere."
"It looked like someone had put concrete down, but actually it was dirt, packed down, with no vegetation," Cofer said. Still, he added, people often could be seen wading in the shallows, preparing to be baptized.
After learning about the formation of the Elizabeth River Project in the 1990s, Cofer knew he wanted to get involved. "I figured if we can make Money Point alive again, that would be something really special," he said.
Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Let's not forget the Navy
Let's not forget the Navy yard in Portsmouth. I am sure they had nothing to contribute to the "burning skin" toxins. How about the fertilizer plants up and down that area. The scrap yards that line that part of the river got no mention either.
Putting a 2 foot barrier of porous sand on top doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Then you put an oyster bed there so we can start our own contaminated genetic strain of oysters. "Elizabeth River oysters, they stick to your ribs!!" Yummy !
Get that water nice and
Get that water nice and clear and full of fish. We need more dive spots!
Money Point
Eppinger and Russell first started operating at the site in the mid 1800s and went out of business in the early 70's. Most of the time when they operated the Clean Water Act which regulates discharges was not in existence (Clean Water Act 1972). The is no longer any entity who can pay for the clean up and if it because a Super Fund Site the tax payers will pay a much higher price for the clean up. Creosote in the bottom of the river which causes cancer in fish is not a healthy environment for anything to living in. Also remember that the waters of the Elizabeth River flow into the oceans and rivers that we all swim and play in.
This is what happens when..
you allow GOP rule to downplay and suppress these criminal massive scale environmental damage with potential to harm local citizens. Whether the company had funds to do clean up themselves.. they normally are required to have insurance policies for disaster such as this.
With policies essentially slap on a wrist, pay small fine, and pass go it will always be left to the general population to clean up industrial mess sadly.
GA GA OVER GOO
I know some of you might think it's a bad idea to spend millions of dollars to remove 50-year-old goo from the bottom of a river so we can either incinerate it and release it into the atmosphere or bury it, which poses additional hazards. Well, there's an old saying that you should remember: "When the gooing gets tough, the tough get gooing." Besides, if you've ever had moo goo gai pan, you know this stuff is fabulous on chicken!
Financial Responsibility
This is a very complex issue.
If the company responsible is still in existance, I think they should bear some financial responsibility for clean-up...especially if what they did was illegal at the time.
However, consider this: what if what (fill in the blank) you did was perfectly legal at the time, became illegal later....should you be held financially responsible? Should your kids or grandkids?
Over the years since we have been industrialized, many environmentally damaging decisions were made, some intentional and some not. For our own good (Hello! Fish with cancer and human skin burning!), it needs to be cleaned up. If this means it has to be done with taxpayers' dollars...so be it...there are far worse things to spend our money on! At least, we are reaping some benefits!
This is a very complex issue
Not at all. A company did not do this. People did this, people should pay. We create laws to shield people from responsibility. We no longer understand the concept of family or personal responsibility. This must change.
We all bear the burdens of our ancestors, whether we like it or not (take genetics, for instance). There was a time when this applied to our ancestors actions as well, and it was an excellent deterrent. In this day and age, I'm ok, you're ok, everything's ok. Except it isn't. It stinks. And there is a growing number of us who are sick to death of certain folks foisting their mess on the rest of us, and just walking away. Whether it is their financial practices (Bernie Madoff, Wall Street), their cheating, lying, amoral kids (who do you think runs Wall Street), or their personal actions (Eppinger & Russell).
Humans are the most deceitful, violent, destructive creatures on the planet. It takes pretty strong measures to keep them in line. I guess you could say that I am a fan of Draco.
Where are
Messrs Eppinger & Russell? Do they have any assets? Do their descendants? This kind of thing would end if we held up-to the 3rd generation responsible.
Great Idea!!
You first. What would you have to pay for? What will your Grandchildren have to pay for? How can you even think of holding someone accountable for something that they didn't do and was happening before they were born?
Nothing
Neither my father nor my grandfather dumped tons of industrial poisons into any river, nor did they affect the environment in any way that would be visible in 50 years. Those that destroy should be held responsible to the third generation. Is this fair? Is it fair that I am paying for the destruction left behind by others via my taxes? Is it?
You may have not done
You may have not done anything that you know of yet. Wait 30 or 40 more years and see what they find out is harmful. Those people were just doing business. They didn't know the impact like we know it today. I am sorry that you had to pay for the clean up all by yourself. We all pay for stupid people doing stupid things. But I don't think holding 3 generations accountable is a good answer. The government is already doing that to your grandchildren and great grandchildren now. How fair is that?
Those people were just doing business...
No. They owned a business that caught fire and they knew the end result was the dumping of tons of poison into public waterways. It's THEIR problem, not mine. What did they do to clean up THEIR mess? Were they broke? Were their assets sold in order to pay for the calamity that they are ultimately responsible for? Did their children receive an inheritance earned by a business that others are now paying for. I guess you do not understand the meaning of the phrase "personal responsibility".
If you hurt someone in an accident, who pays? Me? No. You pay. How is this any different? Here's how: The owners walk away before anyone knows how bad things really are. They may hesitate to do so if they know that their descendants will pay.
If you think this concept is novel or originates with me, search on "to the third and fourth generation".
I have no problem with
I have no problem with people being held accountable for THEIR actions. But if your father or grandfather killed or hurt people, either on purpose or accident, I would not feel that YOU should have to pay for THEIR mistakes. When does it stop? Should you just have to pay or should your children, and their children have to pay too. I don't feel it is right that I have to pay any taxes that go to schools. I have no children. But that is the way the system works. I pay for stuff that has nothing to do with me, and so do you. And if you read the article this is being paid for by a foundation.
From the 1600's to Now
People living along the Elizabeth River have been tossing stuff into the waterway since the 1600's. Finally, a quasi-private entity has assembled the team necessary to act where the State and Feds have remained inactive and silent. Everyone knows the ER was for the longest time, and still is being abused by the remaining few careless industrial facilities along its banks. The black water is gone, blessed be the HRSD. The goo is going, thanks to the ERP. But there are dozens of others behind the scenes acting to improve the condition of the River as well. State and city inspectors, and environmental enforcement entities of many agencies seek, find, and demand corrective actions of polluters and the ignorant. Those making permits slowly over time turn off polluting waste streams where they still exist. The majority of the prominent industrial activities along the river have markedly changed their ways and have achieved near miracles from what the past offered. Problems still exist. Sediments near antiquated shipyards are next?