CLEAR August 2021

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Isolating and testing for COVID-19 in WV wastewater
by DUANE NICHOLS 30 Aug '21

30 Aug '21

DOMINION POST 30 AUGUST 2021 WVU Team earns $2.9 million to monitor wastewater statewide for COVID-19 by Submitted to The Dominion Post August 29, 2021 MORANTOWN — Just like the COVID-19 virus itself, the means of monitoring and testing for it in wastewater have evolved into a new beast more than a year later. In 2020, West Virginia University researchers would prop open a manhole cover, dip down a bottle to collect wastewater and then take it to a lab to analyze for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (infected people shed virus particles through their feces). With the new academic year, researchers have resumed on-campus sampling. And these days, they use an egg-shaped robot called an autosampler that lurks in the sewers and collects samples every 20 minutes over a 24-hour period. It’s part of a $2.9 million statewide project geared at developing a testing network throughout West Virginia and identifying communities of concern for COVID-19. The project, supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, will monitor sewage at more than 50 wastewater plants, in addition to high-risk congregant settings like college campuses, around the state. A year ago, Timothy Driscoll, project leader and associate professor of biology, and his team were sampling around 15 sites on campus. Last September, they started testing at a local wastewater treatment plant to see if it was feasible to test and monitor on a larger scale to inform public health officials. It worked, and now those efforts have expanded. “The scope is different now,” Driscoll said. “We’ll still test at the building level but now we’re shifting more toward the communities at-large.” From a lab perspective, the testing process has trimmed down from 16 hours to six hours, he said, thanks to a new pathogen testing laboratory in the biology department. “We’re using a totally new process to concentrate viral particles out of wastewater,” Driscoll said. “It uses magnetic beads that stick to the viral particles. Then you just remove all the liquid, and you are left with just virus stuck to the beads.” This is already proving useful: several sites have shown recent increases in COVID-19, corresponding with the arrival of the delta variant to West Virginia. That information is helping public health officials respond appropriately, Driscoll said. The new process also poses the possibility to test for influenza, RSV, HIV and other viruses. It isn’t limited to infectious diseases, either. Scientists can also use it to watch for signs of antibiotic-resistance genes. “Our team hopes to expand upon the initial wastewater testing infrastructure to include other conditions of importance to West Virginia,” said Brian Hendricks, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health, a project co-investigator. “We strongly believe that wastewater surveillance is a very important part of public health, but it requires tools that often involve complex methods that may not be available in the state laboratories but are available at many universities such as ours,” said Gordon Smith, another team member and the Stuart M. and Joyce N. Robbins Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health. “The work we are doing is a perfect example of collaboration of a land-grant university — with its mission to serve the state — and the people of the state. We’ve got the scientific expertise to do the testing, interpret the results and work with the state to put it into practice.” Emily Garner, project co-investigator and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is leading the field sampling. By using the autosamplers, researchers have the ability to program them to collect wastewater at certain intervals, she said. They settled on every 20 minutes. “That gives us a great chance of getting a good distribution of what the wastewater looks like throughout the day,” Garner said. “For many wastewater treatment plants, they already collect samples that might be valuable for this testing, so we can leverage those efforts. But in some cases, plants may not have the right equipment or permitting for frequent sampling. Then we’d send some of these autosamplers out into those communities. The official name of the project is WaTCH-WV (Wastewater Testing for Community Health in West Virginia). Collaborators with Marshall University are also conducting testing in the Huntington area. URL: https://www.dominionpost.com/2021/08/29/team-earns-2-9-million-to-monitor-w…

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Seven Mon National Forest Listening Sessions Scheduled for August and September
by DUANE NICHOLS 23 Aug '21

23 Aug '21

Seven Mon National Forest Listening Sessions Scheduled for August and September, ...... starting Tuesday, August 24th .....your voice is needed! https://wvrivers.salsalabs.org/monlisteningaug?wvpId=1484761a-9d09-4d6b-911…

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Morgantown business experiences third flood after heavy rain | WBOY.com
by DUANE NICHOLS 01 Aug '21

01 Aug '21

https://www.wboy.com/news/monongalia/morgantown-business-experiences-third-… Morgantown business experiences third flood after heavy rain Larmie SanyonJul 30, 2021 / 06:35 PM EDT Monongalia Posted: Jul 30, 2021 / 06:32 PM EDT / Updated: MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the third time in about a month, Shorty Anderson’s Auto Service has flooded due to torrential rain in the area on Thursday night, July 29. Travis Rowan, the co-owner of Shorty’s, said the first flood was devastating, the second not too bad and the third has been, hands down, the worst. In total, five of their cars were flooded on Thursday. It took all night and morning to clean the shop. Residue had to be power-washed and further cleaned even into Friday afternoon. A look inside the flooded shop A look inside the flooded shop A look inside the flooded shop A look inside the flooded shop A look inside the flooded shop “We got a lot of mud and runoff from all the construction behind us,” Rowan said. “It filled the parking lots, I mean three-foot deep. It was — it was insane. We had a foot and a half of water in the shop. Mud, again.” When Rowan said “again”, he referred to the previous floods, which were also a result of the construction site behind Shorty’s. After the first flood in June, he said the construction site built a retention pond to hold in the rainwater, but it was unsuccessful. Shorty’s co-owner said he believes the existing pipes are not big enough to carry the water out of the pond. As a result, the water is coming out of the already-clogged drains and spilling into the auto shop. He said it’s all just “crazy”. Flooding behind Shorty’s from construction runoff Flooding behind Shorty’s from construction runoff Flooding behind Shorty’s from construction runoff Flooding behind Shorty’s from construction runoff Flooding behind Shorty’s from construction runoff “I’d like to see us not flood every single time it rains,” Rowan said. “I mean, this is the second big one that we’ve had, but every single rain we have gotten water in here now. I mean, it could rain for five minutes, and we get water in here now.” Shorty’s has contacted the Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), and so far neither of them has been able to help. Rowan said he contacted MUB after the first flood, asking that they come to clean the ditches. Unfortunately, the ditches are still full and getting even more clogged every time it rains. As for the WVDEP, he said, he has talked to them “several times”, sending videos and pictures of the flooding; again, “nothing, really, came from it”. All WVDEP has done is documented the situation and then left the business to its own devices, which is frustrating. “Terribly frustrating,” Rowan said. “I mean, we’re not going to make it if this keeps happening. I mean, Shorty Anderson’s will be a thing of the past if this keeps happening. We can’t keep doing this. We’ve lost entirely too much money.” These losses are not covered by the insurance company, so the business is, really, feeling the brunt of every single storm. For now, Shorty’s will remain closed through the weekend, but the hope is it can open again soon after that. “Hopefully, we’ll be open on Monday to try to figure out where we go from here,” Rowan said. “We can’t get help from insurance. Insurance won’t cover anything, and it’s just extremely frustrating.” Copyright 2021 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Share this story Sent from my iPad

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CLEAR August 2021