Landowners voicing concerns on proposed natural gas drilling

Washington County:

“Some landowners whose properties lie in the proposed natural gas drilling overlay zone in Washington County have banded together to voice their concerns over the practice and ask the county to slow down and look at potential effects. ‘A lot of people don’t even realize this drilling is going to take place,’ said Jimmy Hobbs, who lives in the zone, which is north of Bristol in an area designated for agriculture south of the North Fork of the Holston River, and includes much of Rich Valley Road. ‘Our concern is not about the money so much; it’s about saving our way of life.’…

For nearly a year, the Washington County Planning Commission has been reviewing a draft ordinance that would define the area that can be drilled and set forth environmental and land use precautions to protect landowners, the land and citizens. Currently, drilling isn’t prohibited, but there have been no active wells for decades. In recent months, however, there’s been renewed interest.”

~Writes Allie Robinson Gibson of the Bristol Herald Courier

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Huntley Meadows Park restores hemi-marsh

Northern Virginia:

“A hemi-marsh is a shallow wetland with water levels that change seasonally. It’s not a lake. The ideal hemi-marsh — ‘hemi’ means ‘half’ — is 50 percent water and 50 percent plants, a combination that provides biodiversity, a healthful balance for a wide variety of local native plants and animals.

Huntley Meadows Park, which has the largest nontidal wetlands in Northern Virginia, just completed a project to bring back the hemi-marsh ecosystem that beavers created there in the 1970s…

Over the years, this huge natural area south of Alexandria became surrounded by roads and houses. That development caused tons of silt (small particles of rock and soil) to flow into the wetlands, reducing the water’s depth by one-third, destroying habitats and encouraging silt-loving plants such as cattails to take over, crowding out other plants.”

~Writes Ann Cameron Siegal of the Washington Post

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Environmental Finance Center to Host Workshop

Central Shenandoah PDC:

“The CSPDC is assisting the University of Maryland's Environmental  Finance Center (EFC) in hosting a workshop in the region that will provide information and resources for financing effective stormwater management programs.  The goal of the workshop is to build capacity in the Shenandoah Valley for implementing effective programs to protect and improve the quality of water in local streams, such as Blacks Run in Harrisonburg, the South River in Waynesboro, Lewis Creek in Staunton, the Maury River in Buena Vista, and others. 

The workshop will cover topics relevant to both the Virginia Stormwater Management Program, which regulates post-construction stormwater runoff from construction sites, as well as financing strategies for localities that operate Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems (MS4).  EFC and other experts will speak on topics ranging from assessment tools to innovative marketing strategies.

In addition, this workshop will provide a unique opportunity for municipalities to share successes, challenges, and ideas for implementing successful stormwater programs.  The workshop is funded by the Chesapeake Funders Network.  It will be held at James Madison University's Festival Conference Center on May 22nd from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Visit the event page for registration and agenda - click HERE.