During two weeks traversing the length of Shenandoah National Park, the students and documentarians who make up EcoVenture 2009 hiked through sunshine, fog, frost and snow.

“We’ve seen four seasons, I would think,” said George Patterson, creative media director of the trip and The Downstream Project.

Mike Liberati stands on the eroding, mercury-infested South River bank within sight of the nearly-deserted Invista plant, hopeful that a pilot project to begin Tuesday will help stabilize a 500-foot riverfront area while eliminating the hazardous material from entering the water.

South River’s tiny inhabitants offer clues to waterway health

Reduced industrial pollution, mandated wastewater treatment upgrades and voluntary agricultural buffers all have helped improve conditions of the South River, where anglers will participate this weekend in the city’s annual Fly Fishing Festival, state officials said.

Chesapeake Bay watershed improvements are in the works, but still years off

It doesn’t take long for pollutants to take the mercurial, spiraling ride on the water from the South River to the Chesapeake Bay, depending on the obstacles they encounter.

Some areas of the South River in Waynesboro may get a facelift, according to members of a local team devoted to studying environmental issues on the waterway.

I enjoyed my experience at Xtremefest two weeks ago so much that, when my stimulus check arrived last week, I deposited only half of it and took the rest, along with some extra cash I’d been saving, to buy myself a new recreational kayak.

Mercury contamination in rivers can spread to nearby birds, even ones that don’t eat fish or other food from the water.
Researchers from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., found high levels of mercury in the blood of land-feeding songbirds living near the South River, a tributary of the Shenandoah, they report in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.