DEP: Number of polluted waterways in Pa. up

Compared to 2020

• Scott LaMar/WITF
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

 Susan Phillips / StateImpact Pennsylvania

An orange colored stream flows from an abandoned mine in Tioga County. This tributary to Johnson Creek supports no invertebrate or aquatic life.

Airdate: Thursday, January 20, 2022

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says a third of the state’s streams are impaired or polluted — meaning those waterways are unsafe for aquatic life, recreation, fish consumption and water supply. All told, Pennsylvania has 27,886 miles of streams that are impaired — almost 2,400 more than in 2020.

The draft 2022 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report is updated every two years as part of the 50-year-old Clean Water Act.

The report indicates that abandoned mine water runoff, agricultural runoff and storm water runoff are the three biggest sources of pollution.

Eighty-nine percent of Lancaster County’s streams are impaired putting the county near the top of the counties with the highest percentage of polluted streams. More than half the streams in Dauphin, Berks, Cumberland, Franklin, and York Counties are impaired, according to the report.

Dustin Shull, Manager of Assessment Section in the Bureau of Clean Water at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is on Thursday’s Smart Talk with more information.