Monongahela River Health Receives Check-Up By Commerce Committee
The group met in Morgantown Thursday.
The State Journal
7 July 11
By Stacy Moniot
MORGANTOWN -- The Monongahela River Recreation and Commerce Committee
met for the first time in a year and a half Thursday. It gathered
county, municipal, and community leaders for an update on the river's
progress and what challenges remain.
“The environment, the shipping end of it not being as strong as we'd
like to see it, and of course recreation,” Morgantown Chamber of
Commerce President Kenneth Busz said.
The shipping numbers have remained steady on the Mon since the 1980s,
but have not grown much.
“Obviously we have to prioritize funds over a national program in a
national system,” Curt Meeder of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said,
“so the lower-use facilities are less likely to get fully funded for
their operation and maintenance.”
Meeder said there are no plans to cut funding to operations of the Mon
for now, but it takes more than maintenance from the Corps to help the
river thrive or even keep it clean.
“We're not funded or staffed or equipped-literally- to take care of
that periodic accumulation of debris,” Meeder said, referring to the
garbage buildup behind the Morgantown Lock and Dam.
The Corps just opens the gates and lets the debris float down the
river. This year, though, volunteers were waiting.
“The local communities responded wonderfully in terms of having boats
and people and equipment out there to pick up much of the debris,”
Meeder said. “That was outstanding.”
That kind of effort can maintain the parking areas and boat launches
which draw sporting events. The Convention and Visitors Bureau said
those events generate $1 million a year for Morgantown.
“The public can get involved,” MRRCC Chairman Barry Pallay said, “and
I'd like for them to roll up their sleeves too and work on these
matters.”
There are even hopes to turn the old Quality Glass site in Star City
into another boat launch, boosting river traffic even further.
“It's a major part of the success that Morgantown and Mon County have
enjoyed and so we want to keep it that way,” Busz said.
Related Links:
Mon River Recreation and Commerce Committee - http://www.monriversummit.org
.