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WHEELING, W.Va. — Wheeling Jesuit University biology students, along with Professor Dr. Ben Stout, will assist the West Virginia Water Research Institute and West Virginia University with a $350,000 grant to expand a regional water quality monitoring program called Three Rivers QUEST.

The Colcom Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based private foundation dedicated to fostering a sustainable environment, provided for the launch of the Mon River QUEST in 2010 after monitoring began in 2009 on the Monongahela River through a U.S. Geological Survey grant. The effort expanded to become Three Rivers QUEST (3RQ), with Colcom Foundation contributing more than…

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CLARKSBURG — Area cities participating in a statewide program on how to address vacant and run-down properties are pacing themselves, officials say.

Weston, Shinnston and Fairmont are among 17 municipalities in the BAD Buildings Program, an initiative of the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University.

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MORGANTOWN - A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that changes in the quality of water in the Monongahela River are minimal, despite 8 years of steady oil and gas drilling in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Most contaminants found in groundwater during this survey were attributed to coal mining, not gas extraction. According to a local expert, that has been the trend since close monitoring of the Monongahela River began in 2009.

“People jump to the assumption that the problem was with the gas industry, and they may have had perfectly good reasons to think that, but when we started monitoring the river in July of 2009, we very quickly found out that a lot of the salts are the sort of things you’d find out of coal mine drainage,” said Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute.

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The West Virginia Water Research Institute and Three Rivers QUEST have been recognized for their work in improving the water quality of the Monongahela River by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council.

The programs are featured in a success story in the council’s Spring 2015 Issue of National Water Monitoring News.

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council brings together scientists, managers, and citizens to ensure information about the quality of U.S. water resources is accurate, reliable and comparable.

The newsletter highlighted the program implemented by WVWRI and 3RQ to improve the Mon River.

In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) declared the Monongahela River impaired for potable water use due to the presence of sulfate salts.

A plan, spearheaded by WVWRI, combined water science with stakeholder collaboration, sought to restore the river in less time than the traditional regulatory process. 3RQ provided the data necessary for the improvement plan, as well as the statistics of its success.

By 2010, the plan was in effect and sulfate concentrations in the Monongahela River began to decrease. As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved PADEP’s decision to remove the Mon from the “impaired for potable water use” listing in late 2014.