Alabama Intern Provides Valuable Water Quality Work

For a second year, Giang Tong, an Environmental Health Engineering Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, did summer intern work with the NRCS Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council in Birmingham, Alabama.  The Office of Surface Mining sponsored the internship.  Working under the guidance of the U.S. Geological Survey, Tong conducted sediment and surface water quality analysis for heavy metals from mining operations in the Five Mile Creek Watershed.  The site assessments will contribute toward the development of a 26-mile recreational greenway along Five Mile Creek.

Five Mile Creek has suffered from decades of industrial, mining, and urban pollution. After the devastating floods of 2001-2003, communities along “Creosote Creek,” so-named for its dark color and high metal pollutant content, began looking for a way to solve the stream’s problems.  The Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership was formed to protect and preserve the water quality and quality of life for residents along Five Mile Creek by planning for streamside buffers and “smart-growth” within the watershed.

 “The water quality work done by Tong the past two summers will be a tremendous asset as plans develop for the Five Mile Creek greenway recreational area, said Paul Kennedy, Cawaco RC&D Coordinator.  "The Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership has gone beyond geo-political boundaries with partners viewing each other simply as neighbors seeking ways to improve water quality and their communities through the development of a network of parks and greenways.  This partnership is being hailed as a national model for cooperation and has secured almost $2 million dollars in Federal and local funding for the project.”
Your contact is Julie Best, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 334-887-4549.