34 FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT [W. VA. 



Through the kindness of Hon. Geo. M. Bowers, United States Fish 

 Commissioner, many tests have been made to determine whether or" 

 not the water U owing frioin industrial plants was actually deleterious 

 to fish life, and in this way. proceed wiith this work in an intelligent 1 

 manner. 



In investigating these sources of pollution, it has always been ascer- 

 tained that the men at tlie head of these industrial concerns, were not 

 polluting the streams with any criminal (intent, but were using these 

 streams for sewers, merely as a matter of convenience, and for the rea- 

 son that no great effort has ever been made to stop this pollution; but 

 they have always expressed a willingness to stop polluting the streams, 

 , where it was possible to do so, and a great many of the tanneries and 

 paper mills have, during the past twelve months, constructed settling 

 pools, and provided every device possible, to take care of this pollution. 

 While these settling pools may not be sufficient to completely purify 

 the out-put of pollution from these plants, yet if they are made suffi- 

 ciently large, so that the lime and other poisonous substances may have 

 time to settle, and then the water released from these pools only dur- 

 ing a high stage of water in the stream into which it empties, many, 

 of the poisonous substances can be eliminated, and the pollution re- 

 duced to such a degree, that it will neither in June fish or materially 1 

 effect the purity of the water. Several tests were made by the United) 

 (States Fish Commissioner, during the past twelve months, of water ta- 

 ken from these settling pools, and were found to not be injurious to 

 fish, although they were kept in the water for three and four days at 

 a time, while the samples of water that were taken directly from thet 

 out-flow from the plants, killed fish within a few minutes, after being 

 diluted with pure water in the iratio of one part of the sample fur-* 

 nished, to nineteen parts of pure water. 



The most difficult problem in this connection, is the pollution caused 

 by coal mining. A Ion? many of our streams wiill be found numerous 

 coal mines, from which sufficient sulphur or iron water flows, to kill 

 all animal life in these streams for miles, and even make the water un^ 

 fit for domestic purposes. It is not claimed by the coal operators 

 that it is entirely impossible to take care of this poisonous water, yet 

 they do claim that coal cannot be economically mined in W^est Vir- 

 ginia, if they are compelled to do this. It is even contended by some 

 eminent lawyers, that pollution from a coal or ore mine, could not be 

 restrained undei the statute, for the reason that these ingredients were 

 placed in the ground by nature, and that water seeking its level, must 

 flow into our streams. He this as it may, the case of West Virginia; 

 vs. The Southern Coal nnd Transportation Company, which was tried 

 in the Circuit Court of Barbour County, in June, 1909, and is now 

 pending in the Court of Appeals, will, when decided, determine the con- 

 struction of this statute In this case, the defendant the Southern 

 Coal and Transportation Company, a mining corporation, was indicted 

 and convicted for polluting and killing the fish in Stuart's Run, by al- 



