Biologists in the Great Lakes region and throughout Europe have tried unsuccessfully for decades to rid their waters of the small but highly destructive zebra mussel using methods such as electrocution, radio waves, chemicals, and even trying to freeze them.
The dime-sized mollusks have wreaked havoc on regional water systems, causing billions of dollars in damage. So when they were discovered in a small quarry in Prince William County in 2002, state biologists immediately went into panic mode. They used a potassium mixture to destroy them.
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries announced Thursday that the notorious invasive aquatic species was successfully eradicated from the Millwork Quarry — the first successful extermination of the mussels from a large, open body of water in North America and perhaps the world, officials said.
“The existence of zebra mussels in Virginia posed a very real threat to our natural resources and to our economy,” said Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources L. Pristine Bryan.
“The price of eradication was small compared to the potential millions of dollars that would have been needed to control zebra mussels had they escaped into adjacent waters.”
Biologists across the country will begin studying whether the method used in Prince William will work for their water systems, officials said. Virginia biologist Ray Fernald said the system would likely not work in rivers or huge bodies of water, but could prove successful in small inland lakes plagued by the mussel.
Several divers who often use the quarry for training first told The Examiner last week that it appeared the mussels had died.
How it was done
» Biologists injected the 16-acre quarry with 174,000 gallons of a potassium chloride solution over a three-week period beginning in February.
» Millbrook Quarry is just a stone’s throw from a major tributary that feeds into the metro area’s main water supply.
» The project cost approximately $365,000, with another $54,000 awarded in contracts for the future monitoring.
» Officials said the concentration of chemical did not have any effect on the area’s drinking water or other wildlife and was not dangerous to humans.
