By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BATAVIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Clermont County $225,000 to study pollution levels in the East Fork Little Miami watershed.

Officials say the study will monitor the effects specific pollutants have on the river's wildlife and determine exactly how much pollution the river can take without technically being polluted.

It will ultimately benefit Clermont residents who use the river for recreational purposes like fishing and swimming.

For about seven years, officials with Clermont's Office of Environmental Quality have studied segments of the East Fork, cataloging existing levels of pollutants into a database.

The watershed spreads across 500 square miles spreading from Clermont into portions of Clinton, Brown and Highland counties.

This new study, called a Total Maximum Daily Load, will put the stream on a kind of "budget," said John McManus, project manager for the Clermont County agency.

Now, specific areas of the East Fork, along with several of its tributaries including Shayler Run and Hall Run, are classified as "impaired," which means they are not meeting environmental standards as laid out in the federal Clean Water Act.

Officials should have final numbers for implementation of the overall monitoring project by the end of 2005.

"The measurement, analysis, and modeling ... should allow us to get a better handle on sources of impairment in the East Fork and other smaller streams," said Jay Dorsey, watershed coordinator for the East Fork Little Miami.

"We have some great streams in Clermont County. This project will help us see how we can all do our part to keep them great."

Karin Weyer, of Miamiville, is pleased with the effort.

"Making sure that we preserve our natural resources is one of the big things that I try to teach my kids," she said.

"A study like this will help to benefit the river and the wildlife around it and in it. It's focusing on generations to come. That's fantastic."

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com