'Clean your Files' Day Held
1.5 Tons of Paper Recycled in County

   Buchanan County offices had an opportunity Friday to clean out their files and help the county work toward its annual recycling rate mandate during "Clean Your Files Day" at the Grundy Plaza.
   Businesses were able to bring their paper to the plaza to watch as they were shredded in a mobile shredding trailer. There was no fee for the service.
   Regional Recycling Coordinator Toby Edwards said Friday's event in Buchanan County resulted in some 1.5 tons of paper being recycled, as opposed to having to be landfilled.
    Edwards noted that in the three-counties of Buchanan, Russell and Dickenson, a total of 3.6 tons were collected.
    He noted many offices simply throw their paper in the trash and then it enters the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) stream. Edward added studies have shown that the largest "component" in the Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority’s solid waste stream is paper products. 
    According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper makes up 40 percent of the nation's solid waste stream -- about 71.8 million tons each year.  The largest source of this solid waste is from businesses and offices.  Businesses and offices within the three-county area generate tons of papers during their day-to-day operations. 
    Last year, the regional recycling rate met the mandated recycling rate of 25 percent with  Buchanan, Dickenson and Russell counties posting a combined recycling rate of 34.1 percent for 2005. 

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  To subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

Break Down of Algae Said to Be Cause of Bubbles in Creek, River

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
    Kyle Robinson, of Laurel Fork, at Whitewood, isn’t quite sure what’s causing it, but the soapy-like substance he's been noticing in the creek and in the Dismal River since May have been cause for concern to him.
    Robinson doesn’t think it’s coming from a straight pipe in the river or the detergent used in somebody’s weekly laundry. He thinks it's related to coal and gas, however Department of Mines and Division of Gas inspectors, who have responded to investigate his complaints, don’t think it’s related to coal mining or to gas.
    Some have agreed it does look like soap, but have suggested it's just water going over rocks.
    “I’ve lived at Whitewood for 49 years,” Robinson said. “I fished this same river when I was a boy and I never saw it then.”
    However, Stewart Phipps, water compliance manager for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, said the bubbles are not something foreign to the water and are likely to be caused from a break-down of algae in the water which results in the foam being generated.
    It's commonplace in streams throughout the state this time of year, Phipps said, adding weather conditions have been ripe for it this summer.
    Similar reports have come in from different places in the state, including in the James River in the Richmond area, Phipps said.
    He explained the foam comes from an organic situation which occurs after the algae dies. As water churns down its flow path and travels over rocks, the algae is broken down and creates a foam like substance.
    "The break-down of the algae creates a situation where foam is generated," Phipps said. "It happens this time of year, usually in the summer months in conditions where algae is excessive. It's been a common occurrence this year."
    Phipps said he had not personally visited the Buchanan locations mentioned by Robinson, but he said based on conversations he has had with division of mines inspectors, who described what they were seeing in relation to their investigations of Robinson's complaints, the algae break-down appeared to be the cause of the bubbles in the Buchanan County streams as well.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  To subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

Anonymous Donor Boosts UACP Scholarship Fund

   The University of Appalachia recently received $100,000.00 from an anonymous source to help fund scholarships as well as construction work at its Garden Campus, where extensive renovations are underway to transform a 1940 Civilian Conservation Corps built high school into the university’s main campus.
    “We are very excited and appreciative of this latest contribution toward our fundraising goals,” said Whitney Caudill, director of development and associate general counsel to the university.  “A lot of individuals, foundations and supporters on the local, state and federal levels have stepped up to make our university a reality.” 
    Caudill just recently coordinated the organizational meeting of health care professional students that intend to practice medicine, dentistry and pharmacy in the coalfields of Virginia as well. 
     “Our first meeting went very well and we are recruiting students from health-related professional schools in the nation," she said. "Part of this donation will go toward running the organization and starting a fund to help offset these students’ educational debts when they return home to practice or make this region their new home.”
     Central Appalachia has struggled with chronic health care problems and a shortage of health care providers for as long as such statistics have been kept, according to Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell, the newly installed president of the University of Appalachia and the dean of its college of pharmacy. 
     “I have worked in the public health care sector for several years as district director and the health problems are getting worse, not better," Cantrell said.  "This new student organization will address those problems.  Our pharmacy students will also be teaching preventive health care to elementary, middle, and high school students in the region.  Education is the key to prevention.”
     A portion of the donation will also go toward the Ryan McGlothlin Scholarship Loan Fund, named in honor of a Buchanan County native who died in Iraq during combat while he was protecting his fellow Marines.  The fund, which has grown to $75,000.00 due to a recent donation from New Peoples Bank and the latest help from the anonymous donor, will help military veterans with loans to attend the pharmacy college, Virginia’s only three-year accelerated doctor of pharmacy program.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  To subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.