December 12, 2011

1) Success Spotlight: Windmill Gap Creek, West Virginia--Innovative Community Wastewater System Restores Water Quality and Protects Public Health

1) Success Spotlight: Windmill Gap Creek, West Virginia--Innovative Community Wastewater System Restores Water Quality and Protects Public Health
EPA's Clean Water Act Section 319 Program provides funding for restoration of nonpoint source-impaired water bodies. Success stories are posted at: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/. This week's success spotlight shines on Windmill Gap Creek in West Virginia.

Failing household septic systems in McDowell County contributed to water quality impairments in West Virginia's Windmill Gap Creek. As a result, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection added a 2.8-mile segment of the stream to the state's 2006 Clean Water Act impaired waters list for fecal coliform. With federal, state and local support, the Wastewater Treatment Coalition of McDowell County worked with partnering organizations and community residents to install a decentralized community wastewater system, which significantly improved water quality. The stream now meets the state's water quality standard for fecal coliform, and West Virginia will propose removing the segment from state's list of impaired waters in 2012.

For more information on this story, visit: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/wv_windmill.cfm