Sunday, March 23, 2014

In the news, 3/23/14

Thanks to what happened with Duke Energy in North Carolina a few weeks ago, anything having to do with coal ash in rivers cannot be taken lightly.

The Sierra Club says Louisville Gas & Electric is discharging coal ash into the Ohio River below Louisville illegally. The company isn't commenting, and the state agency that regulates the discharge disagrees. The Sierra Club says it will take the matter to court.

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Here's more from Cleveland on efforts to stop the spread of Asian carp in the Ohio River and Great Lakes regions. According to the article, Asian carp have been found in the Greenup pool of the Ohio
River. That's my territory, so I'll be listening for people complaining this summer about big fish jumping out of the river and smacking them in the head as they run their fishing boats or personal watercraft.



From the '80s archives: A favorite place

I have lots of favorite places along the Ohio River. One that's been a favorite for a long, long time is the area right below the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, which people where I grew up still refer to as the Gallipolis Locks and Dam.

In the days before the new canal was built, this was a chokepoint. The main lock was only 600 feet long, meaning most tows had to doublecut to get through, which meant there were constant backups. That meant boats waited in line for a while, making it much easier to get pictures of them.

On top of that, the Ohio side is easily accessible, making it a favorite fishing spot, too.

Here is a scanned image of a slide I shot on the riverbank about thirty years ago. As with many of my slides from that era, the colors are starting to change. In this case, that means a blue tint. I've removed some of it, but not all.



This area is still a nice place to get pictures, especially if you can pick a good time of day based on where the sun will be. A few years ago, I got a nice picture of a turtleneck boat here.

Spring is here, and low-water season should follow sometime this summer, so perhaps I can get back up there and see how things look now.