All the sides are talking with each other. State officials say they would rather the EPA simply set standards for water quality and let them come up with ways of meeting them, rather than enacting regulations which could hurt business. Dismal Swamp shrew may be removed from threatened list Federal wildlife officials have proposed removing the Dismal Swamp southeastern shrew, native to the lowlands straddling the North Carolina-Virginia border, from the threatened species list. During a survey that year, the shrew's habitat was believed to be restricted only to the Dismal Swamp's boundaries in extreme southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. He said his agency believes the shrew no longer needs protection under the Endangered Species Act and formally proposed removing the shrew from the threatened species list.
Shrews eat insects and feed owls, hawks and snakes.
They must consume two to three times their own weight each day to survive, because they are constantly in motion and have an extremely high metabolism. In 1994 and 1995, biologists found shrews on the coastal plain of eastern North Carolina and across southeastern Virginia that were similar to the Dismal Swamp southeastern shrew. Tests at 168 of 250 landfills show some apparent contamination of groundwater. Hassan Vekili, director of waste coordination for the state Department of Environmental Quality, estimates that leaking landfills account for 90 percent of those cases. Virginia imports approximately 3.2 million tons of garbage per year, second in the United States after Pennsylvania.