John Wirts News Today

The United States Environmental Protection Agency hasnt made final decisions on key documents in its review that could address longstanding water quality concerns. Those include West Virginias list of impaired waters and a Chemours plan to address PFAS discharges at its Washington Works facility in Wood County.

The State of Iowa has just put its first-ever drought plan to work to help it manage one of the longest and most severe dry periods in recent history. Officials say they are already making plans to improve it. Iowa was more than 15 inches short of normal precipitation between fall 2022 and this autumn. ...

The federal Environmental Protection Agency says West Virginia isnt accurately keeping track of how many of the states streams are polluted, and has added an additional 346 streams - totaling around 1,600 miles - to its impaired list. Measuring water quality is required by the federal Clean Water Act to help determine how safe waterways are for aquatic life, swimming, recreation and consumption. In a recent webinar, John Wirts, a retired biologist with the West Virginia Department of Environme...

West Virginia streams that need cleaned up are slipping through the cracks.