Sudsy Foam in the James River Not Seen as a Sign of Cleanliness

State biologists tested the water along 200 miles of the James and found spots with worrisomely high levels of the pollutant phosphorus, which feeds algae blooms that upset life in the river and Chesapeake Bay. One test upstream from downtown Richmond found a phosphorus level 34 times higher than recommended.

But even that was hardly a smoking gun. Phosphorus can come from sewage plants, manure-laden farm runoff, suburban lawns and numerous other sources in the James's 10,000-square-mile watershed. At first, authorities theorized that the foam might be caused by the laundry detergent used at a prison upstream -- but that seemed less likely after the detergent use stopped and the foam continued to appear.

Now, the state is waiting on more tests, trying to learn what the bubbles are made of.

Already, though, many have concluded that the problem is probably man-made. If that's true, the foam's appearance was timed for maximum political impact, since it developed during the summer when the state issued its gloomy report about the human impact on Virginia's rivers.

That survey, released last month, detailed "impairments" in the state's waters: bacteria from human and animal waste, low-oxygen areas where aquatic life struggles to breathe and harmful chemicals such as mercury or PCBs. Only 5,298 miles of Virginia rivers and streams, or 37 percent of the total studied, were found to be as clean as they should be. The state has 50,357 miles of rivers and streams.

Since each survey covers waters not tested in previous rounds, that doesn't necessarily mean that the state's waters as a whole are becoming dirtier. "It's just that we're looking for it in more places," said Bill Hayden, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality.

In that context, environmentalists say, they see the foam on the James -- whatever it is -- as a new product of a very old problem.

"It's just an indication that the system is stressed, that there is pollution in the system," said Mike Gerel, staff scientist in the Virginia office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. "This is not normal."