Group acts as ‘voice of the river’

Michael A. Sawyers

PAW PAW, W.Va. — Brent Walls realizes that his two eyes and two ears are not enough to see and hear everything there is to know about keeping the Potomac River a clean and viable waterway.

That’s why he is always looking for help.

Walls, a resident of Bunker Hill, is the upper Potomac River manager for Potomac Riverkeeper Inc., a nonprofit organization that facilitates enforcement of existing federal and state laws that govern the watershed

“We have been called the voice of the river. In speaking for the river, we also speak for its wildlife, its plants and for the people who use it and enjoy it,” Walls said during a riverside interview Tuesday near Paw Paw. Beside and below him crept the famous waterway, inching along with the low flow of early autumn from its headwaters atop the Appalachian Mountains to its salty destination in the Chesapeake Bay.

Walls’ position is a newly created one. He has responsibility for the Potomac River drainage from Harpers Ferry upstream. “That’s 6,000 square miles,” he said. “That’s why we are always looking for help from citizens who see or know of pollution. The important thing is to call us right away. Don’t wait a week.”

Walls can be reached at (443) 480-8970.

The organization (www.potom acriverkeeper.org) is supported by grants, large donors and membership.

“We aren’t afraid to play hardball to protect the river,” Walls said. “However, we work primarily through the existing permitting process when something such as a pulp and paper mill is being scrutinized.”

A Navy veteran of seven years, Walls is not new to protecting rivers. He comes to the Potomac after having worked in a similar capacity on the Chester River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Walls said the two pollution problems that most often surface are from point sources, such as wastewater treatment plants or industry, and from agriculture.

“We know there isn’t as much control by the state of West Virginia on the poultry industry in the South Branch Potomac valley, for example, as there is by the state of Maryland on Eastern Shore poultry operations. We know we have agricultural pollution and intersex fish in the South Branch.”

Walls said Potomac Riverkeeper is always interested in learning about and investigating what he calls the impacts of concentrated animal feeding operations, known as CAFO.

Walls plans to use the next few months to meet as many people in the drainage as possible, hoping that some of those contacts will help him keep an eye on things. He stands ready to speak to interested groups.

“I’ve already begun meeting with the growing fishing guide industry on the North Branch of the Potomac,” Walls said. “Call it Project Knock Knock, I guess. What better than to know someone who sees the river almost daily and realizes the importance of keeping it clean?”

Contact Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.