Minutes
What follows are my, Don Strimbeck's, informal notes from the 10AM to noon meeting of the Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority on Thursday 20 November 2003, at SWA office.
If there are any corrections or additions to minutes, email me and I will put out revised minutes.
The sole topic for the meeting concerned plans for dealing with the debris and trash problem for our Upper Monongahela River in WV.
Attending:
Don Strimbeck, Secretary, Upper Monongahela River Association Incorporated (UMRA), 109 Broad Street, P. O. Box 519, Granville WV 26534-0519, 304-599-7585
Wally Venable, Chief Technical Officer, UMRA, 383 Helmick Road, Morgantown WV 26501-2099
Barry Pallay, Vice President UMRA, and, member of Monongalia County Development Authority, 124 Diamond Court, Morgantown WV 26505
Lou Schmidt, Non-Point Source Specialist, Coordination & Development Section, Office of Water Resources, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Rt. 5, Box 1016, Salem WV 26426, office 304-783-4836
Dr. Alfred H. Stiller, Chair, Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority, 140 Walnut Street, Morgantown WV 26505, 304-292-3801 (fax 8541)
Hayward G. Helmick, Vice Chair, Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority, 6 Helmick Road, Morgantown WV 26501, 304-328-5340.
Anthony Giambrone, Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority, 441 Congress Avenue, Star City WV 26505
Bob Bell, Monongalia County Commissioner, home 304-599-0346
Lou, Secretary, Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority
Frank Jernejcic, WV Department of Natural Resources, 1304 Goose Run, Fairmont WV 26554, 304-367-2720
NOTE: Tim Terman, Chair, Mon River Recreation Committee, VISION 2020 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, could not attend meeting as he was teaching a class. Tim's committee of course is interested in working on the river debris and trash problem, and, this problem will be on agenda for next meeting of his committee. For information on Tim's committee, check out http://www.be.wvu.edu/umwt/
Tim, Director PR & Communications, College of Business & Economics, can be contacted at 304-293-7760 (fax 7061), P. O. Box 6025, WVU, Morgantown WV 26506-6025. Email tterman@mail.wvu.edu . Home is 206 Wagner Road, Morgantown WV 26501, phone 292-5087. His cell phone is 304-276-8306. Also check out his website for his kayak business, http://www.magicriverwv.com.
What follows are not minutes per se, but, more or less ACTION ITEMS resulting from meeting.
WALLY. Suggested search for information on trash boats. Strimbeck will try web search on this topic, and, also include request for information on trash boats in letters Strimbeck will write to District Engineer, Huntington District and Pittsburgh District, US Army Corps of Engineers, and, to TVA. However, others who might have ideas re leads to trash boat information are encouraged to pursue them!
Wally said drums in river constitute a hazardous waste problem and removal of such drums might be deemed worth government funds, whereas government funds for general trash removal might be harder to justify. Wally also said we do not want to replicate trash r&d effort at Bluestone, but, learn from it in developing any program for Mon.
Wally also pointed out Daily Athenaeum article on new WVU Environmental Research Center.
BOB BELL. It was suggested that Bob contact WVU president David Hardesty, to see if perhaps one of the first chores to be undertaken by new WVU Environmental Research Center might be our river trash and debris problem. Daily Athenaeum article re this new center now follows:
FRANK. Congressman Rahall got federal funds for trash cleanup at Bluestone Dam, and Huntington District has reports on this effort. He said about three-fourths of Bluestone trash was woody. Put new gate in damn to pass thru trash. Contact Keep America Beautiful Foundation. Frank feels there are other river needs that are far more important than an expensive effort to remove trash collecting behind Mon dams. Frank feels Opekiska best site to remove trash from river.
LOU SCHMIDT. Perhaps existing cranes at dams can be used to remove trash. Mentioned trash collection effort on Tygart that yielded 700 barrels with a dozen or so still containing liquids. Mentioned state program to take away trash, which might apply to any effort re river trash and debris removal. He said federal budget for Stonewall dam actually has line item for collecting debris, although it seems not to be used.
BARRY. Pointed out that thrust of our river debris and trash resolution (can be viewed on our Upper Monongahela River Association Incorporated website, hftp://www.uppermon.org) is for Corps to collect the trash and SWA then dispose of it. Barry made excellent suggestion that an automatic system be set up at Mon locks to photograph and record by electronic means trash behind dams. I DO NOT HAVE IN MY NOTES WHO WAS TO FOLLOW UP ON THIS!! Barry also suggested we contact riverside businesses to request donations from them so that we could establish a budget for addressing the planning effort for the river trash and debris problem, eg, cameras at dams etc. AGAIN I DO NOT HAVE IN MY NOTES FOLLOW UP RE THIS SUGGESTION.
HAYWARD & JAMBIE to contact state solid waste folks re information they may have re Bluestone effort.
Action items for Strimbeck: (1) Write Huntington & Pittsburgh districts of Corps of Engineers re Bluestone, trash boats, and, any information they have on efforts to collect and remove river trash and debris; (2) do web search on river trash and debris problem, and, trash boats; (3) check out Keep America Beautiful Foundation.
Phone call from Barry Pallay Sat afternoon 6 December 2003. Barry's suggestion for photographing trash behind dams also calls for some type of protocol that would systematically take and store such photos, and, then, edit the information and also quantify and identify the trash and debris.
Donald C. Strimbeck, Secretary
Upper Monongahela River Association Incorporated