DEP Hosts A Water Quality Meeting at FSU
WBOY
14 May 2014
By Allen Clayton, Photographer
Wednesday evening Fairmont State University hosted the Department
of Environmental Protection’s water quality meeting.
The meeting discussed the total maximum daily load development
effort, they are doing on the main-stem Monongahela River. The DEP
said their effort over the next four years is Fecal Coliform based
on the violations that they’ve discovered on the Monongahela
River.
Fecal Coliform is a bacteria that can cause problems such as
stomach illnesses and other problems.
DEP said one way to look at the total maximum daily load (TMDL) is
a budget for pollutants that is designed around stream criteria.
They also said the TMDL will set reductions of pollutants where
they’re needed so that it reduces the bacteria count going into
the river so that it meets criteria.
“The effort is designed to minimize or eliminate discharges of
fecal coliform into the Monongalia River,” said Jim Laine,
Environmentalist Resource Specialist Supervisor.
The DEP said the best way the public can get involved is to
understand their public sewers, and to know what they can do to
eliminate untreated sewage going into the river. The next
Department of Environmental Protection’s water quality meeting
will be scheduled sometime in the Summer of 2016.