Another blowout at Holmes Run?

[Cameron Abbott]

 I went fishing at Holmes run today to find a whole lot of fish dead in the stream. I thought it might have been just a few fish but as i continued up the stream, i found more and more. I found large fish measuring from 11" to 14" as well as small fingerlings and minnows. I thought it might have been a bad batch of fish but i found a carp looking fish dead as well. I also ran into a gentleman that was saying he was catching fish 4 days ago as well as seeing people posting here cathcing fish there. I hope another leak hasn't happened there but just wanted to put the word out to see if anyone else has seen this and when they did or if they caught fish there recently so we can try to determine when this occurred. Below are some pics i took of the dead fish. Not good

[Rob Snowhite]

There was a large water main break on Columbia Pike a few days ago. Maybe something washed in with the effluent. 

Or the fish partied too hard last night. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 1, 2015, at 5:49 PM, Cameron Abbott <cabbo...@gmail.com> wrote:

 I went fishing at Holmes run today to find a whole lot of fish dead in the stream. I thought it might have been just a few fish but as i continued up the stream, i found more and more. I found large fish measuring from 11" to 14" as well as small fingerlings and minnows. I thought it might have been a bad batch of fish but i found a carp looking fish dead as well. I also ran into a gentleman that was saying he was catching fish 4 days ago as well as seeing people posting here cathcing fish there. I hope another leak hasn't happened there but just wanted to put the word out to see if anyone else has seen this and when they did or if they caught fish there recently so we can try to determine when this occurred. Below are some pics i took of the dead fish. Not good

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[Cameron Abbott]

Rob,

That would explain a lot but i would like to think they just got a little carried away last night, lol.

Cameron

[Shadfan]

I fished - or tried to fish - Holmes Run today, too, at about 2-3pm. Counted 38 dead trout of all sizes between the new bridge at the end of Doris Drive and working upstream to the formerly good hole just above the second stream crossing. Usually can go there and get a First Fish of the Year pretty quickly. Today it seemed the stream was devoid of life. There didn't seem to be any live fish in any of the places where they can often be seen.

When I got back to my car my wading shoes seemed to have a faint gasoline smell. Maybe just the relative newness of the material but seemed more like a clue.

What's the best way to call this die-off to Va DGIF's attention? (Or anyone else that's appropriate).

Paul

[Cameron Abbott]

Paul,

I think you pulled up next to me this afternoon around 2-3 at the parks entrance where the new bridge is. I sent an e-mail to DGIF with the pictures to let them know as well. It was disappointing and heart breaking to see all of those dead fish. I don't know if they will restock it this year becuase of this but i guess we can only wait and see. I will post back on here if they contact me for more info.

Cameron

[Andrew LaVigne]

Made the mistake of heading out to fish Holmes today without checking the board first. Count me as one more confirmation that a pretty bad kill happened there. 

Saw several dead trout in the lower stretches, nothing up top, and nothing alive in the water. I worked up from the doris kelley area, and crossed at least 4 of the low water spots. Every deep hole had a heavy, dark sediment load in the water - couldn't tell if it was sewage, or what, but it looked pretty nasty, so I didn't even get in the creek. The gas/sewage smell was present, but that seems like it's always there. 

[zogby...@gmail.com]

Thanks for posting these updates. I walked upstream from the new bridge to the community pools on the 31st and also saw unusually turbid water in deeper pools and silhouettes of what I thought were dead trout. Depressing find.

[Rob Snowhite]

I plan on walking the entire stretch tomorrow from Columbia Pike down and documenting where the fish kill dead appear. There is a lot of construction and construction vehicles where Rossyln Auto Body used to be. The construction goes from Columbia Pike to the 3rd crossing down. I have seen bulldozers within a couple of feet from the banks.

I'll be out around 0900 if anyone is up for an urban adventure.

[TurbineBlade]

Let us know what you find Rob -- I don't like seeing local streams have massive kills, particularly of hardy natives along with the trout.  

Gene  

[Rob Snowhite]

I walked from Columbia Pike down to the swimming pools this morning. I didn't see any dead fish until I got to the bridge. There were only two small fish right below. One was a tessellated darter and the other I have no idea as all markings were gone. Both of them had their eyeballs bulging out like a fish caught and dredged up from the bottom of the ocean. I didn't pick up on any off smells. The construction site has now set up a sealed fence to keep runoff and soil from going in the water.

I forwarded this discussion to Ellie at the Annandale Blog and hope she can find out more information.

[Cameron Abbott]

John from DGIF called me today in response to the e-mail i sent them New Years day. He wanted to thank me for letting them know and to tell me what happened. Rob was right about the water-main leak on Columbia Pike. He said that a lot of chlorinated tap water from the water-main break ran into Holmes Run around the dam area and of course that is not good for fish. He said they are going to wait a few weeks for things to stabilize and they are going to restock the beginning of Feb. Unfortunately, Holmes RUn is in a very urban area and things like this happen. I am glad to hear they are going to restock it though. I guess keep an eye out on their website for the specific date.

[cjthelder]

It is very possible that few more dead fish will be found, after all of the water that has rushed down recently.  They are probably flushed out by now.

I live in the condos adjacent to where the construction is going on, and can no longer get down there from our property (at least until they are done).  The only way to get down there for us is to go down Columbia Pike by the dam.  I don't walk the creek now, because when I am walking I have my dogs, and the water is too cold for them to wade through.

In any event, today a representative of the construction company knocked on my door (as well as all of my neighbors' doors) to advise us of upcoming blasting they are planning.  I told him about the fish kill, and he said he was unaware of it, but that he would mention it back at their office (for what that is worth!).  There is no doubt in my mind that the kill had to be the result of the runoff from the construction in the last several weeks.  One look at the hill all the way to the top, until the last week or so, would show nothing but bare earth on a very steep incline. 

The state put in about 400# of trout in early November, and they were all healthy.

The construction company is the William A. Hazel, Inc., Company; phone, 703.657.6352.  The developer, for whom WAH is working is the Stanley Martin Company.  The handout this morning says if we have questions to "contact me," but does not say who "me" is.  In any event, this contact info might be helpful.  I don't know if the state could pressure WAH into paying for a restocking in the Spring, or not.  FWIW.

On Thursday, January 1, 2015 5:49:56 PM UTC-5, Cameron Abbott wrote:

[namfos]

You might be able to determine who "me" is by checking with the county permitting office.

Mark

[Rob Snowhite]

A-town blog covers the spill Annandale VA: Fish kill at Holmes Run

My question is this.  How are non-stocked species of fish supposed to re-populate Holmes Run if there are repeated fish and other flora and fauna kills? Do the responsible parties do it? Are they held up to any standards? Get fish from above Barcroft lake and inoculate the stream? There is a dam on one end and drop offs on the other. There really are no feeder streams for fish to enter Holmes. Granted some fish go over the dam but is that enough to re-populate a dead stream? What are the stocked fish supposed to eat other than terrestrial insects and macro invertebrates. 

				Annandale VA: Fish kill at Holmes Run A couple of people who regularly fish in Holmes Run reported a fish kill in recent days, but inspection teams from the Fairfax County Department of Public...
				View on annandaleva.blogspo...	Preview by Yahoo

 

 

Rob Snowhite

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From: namfos <mark....@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 12:54 PM
Subject: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Another blowout at Holmes Run?

You might be able to determine who "me" is by checking with the county permitting office.

Mark

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[TurbineBlade]

Thank you guys for keeping everyone informed about this!  For every response posted here, there are a lot of lurker-sponges keeping up with things like this.  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 7, 2015 1:43:03 PM UTC-5, Rob Snowhite wrote:

A-town blog covers the spill Annandale VA: Fish kill at Holmes Run

My question is this.  How are non-stocked species of fish supposed to re-populate Holmes Run if there are repeated fish and other flora and fauna kills? Do the responsible parties do it? Are they held up to any standards? Get fish from above Barcroft lake and inoculate the stream? There is a dam on one end and drop offs on the other. There really are no feeder streams for fish to enter Holmes. Granted some fish go over the dam but is that enough to re-populate a dead stream? What are the stocked fish supposed to eat other than terrestrial insects and macro invertebrates. 

				Annandale VA: Fish kill at Holmes Run A couple of people who regularly fish in Holmes Run reported a fish kill in recent days, but inspection teams from the Fairfax County Department of Public...
				View on annandaleva.blogspo...	Preview by Yahoo

 

 

Rob Snowhite

---

From: namfos <mark....@gmail.com>
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 12:54 PM
Subject: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Another blowout at Holmes Run?

You might be able to determine who "me" is by checking with the county permitting office.

Mark

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[Jeff Cook]

Seems like every event like should trigger a water test. Expensive and time consuming, or not?

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[Andrew LaVigne]

After reading this blog post, is anybody else, especially those that saw bunches of dead fish, a bit pissed at the response of the county public works spox? They say they found no dead fish. Fine. Then show us the live ones. Electroshock the deep pools, and show us video of living fish.

Otherwise, I'll take what I and others saw and photographed for truth, and assume that the county staff is hedging so as to avoid responsibility/liability in the matter.

They may not be at fault, but somebody is, and needs to be held accountable.

[Jeffrey Silvan]

I'm not sure they were denying it happened. They acknowledged they may have been too late to see the dead fish. Hopefully that's all. VDGIF appears to acknowledge the fish kill.

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[Carl Z.]

It is terrible what happened at Holmes Run but everyone should remember that this is happening in all of our streams.  We just notice it because Holmes Run is stocked as a urban trout fishery with the hope that these fish will be caught a few times each before the weather warms up.  We lost the fish early this year but this type of things happens in all our urban drainage streams.  Rock Creek gets raw sewage overflow during heavy rain.  This all ends up in the Potomac. 

We are complaining about Holmes, but we shouldn't complain too loud because VDGIF's solution might be to stop stocking it.

Just a thought. 

Carl

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