DEP, Coal River Group

Our group at the DEP 

Today was the 8th day of the trip, and our last day in Montgomery. We headed to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in a rain-snow wintery mix. There we were greeted by Tomi Bergstrom, who works with the Watershed Improvement Branch and Project WET, and who had organized our visit. It was incredible how much time and energy Toni and others had put into our visit, and how many people took large amounts of time out of their day to talk with us. First we met with Benny Campbell, the Assistant Director of the West Virginia DEP. He gave us a background on what the DEP does, and talked about his roll as director. I did not realize until today that the DEP is a regulatory agency, and is primarily tasked with making sure that mines, natural gas plants, reclamation sites, etc. are in compliance with the laws and regulations.


Next we talked with Jake Glance, the communications director, and Rusty Joins with the emergency response unit. We talked about different disasters in the area, and how both the response unit and the media departments handle these situations. Scott Settle, the ILF coordinator talked about mitigation options and brook trout in the area, and Laura Jennings and Renu Chakrabarty told us a bit about air quality and the ways in which problems are identified and compliance is enforced. Then Travis Parsons discussed the Abandoned Mines Land (AML) program with us. His discussion was especially relevant because AML is where Mike gets a lot of his funding for the Morris Creek Watershed. It was tough to realize how many reclamation and mitigation projects are still out there and how much some of them struggle to get funding, but it inspired me to get involved and pay attention to the policy making that goes into these decisions. Finally, Tomi talked to us about what she does with education and project WET, which does a lot of education work with 5th graders. Together, everyone gave us more than 3 hours of their time!

Berry Campbell with the DEP 

After a quick lunch at Biscuit World, we headed out to St. Albans to meet with Bill Currey at the Coal River group. Bill co-founded the non-profit in 2004, and has since cleaned up 88 miles of the Coal River, built an education and welcome center and started kayak programs on the water trail. I was bummed we didn't get to go kayaking, but it was 35 degrees and sleeting so I was also glad to stay inside. We have been talking a lot about creating new infrastructure and bringing in new economies to the region, so it was inspiring to meet with a group that is successfully doing that. Bill had some light-hearted advice; it's easier to bring in volunteers if you give them a shirt and make the clean up a party! 

At the Coal River Group with Bill 

One of my many takeaways from today was the importance and power of volunteer and profit work. Benny Campbell stressed how important all of the volunteers that the DEP collaborates with are to reclamation projects, and we have now seen some incredible watershed projects spearheaded by volunteers. It is amazing what passionate people with a love for an area or a project can do, and supporting and growing those organizations and volunteers can really make a difference.

We are sad to leave Mike and Wanda, Leanne and everyone in Montgomery, and cannot thank them enough, but we hope that at least for some of us, this will not be the last visit up the hollow.

-Emily