DNR Presents Plan to Restore Dunkard Creek
Representatives from the West Virginia DEP, DNR, and CONSOL Energy
presented plans to restore Dunkard Creek after a large fish kill two
years ago.
The State Journal
25 August 2011
By Alex Hines
MORGANTOWN -- The Division of Natural Resources has a plan to help
restore life to a local stream after mine run-off killed part of it
almost two years ago.
The Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact brought the public together
Thursday night at West Virginia University to hear about what's being
done to restore Dunkard Creek.
The DNR presented a "Proposed Dunkard Creek Fish and Mussel Restoration
Plan."
It hopes to restore aquatic life in the creek to the levels that
existed before the fish kill in 2009.
The kill happened when CONSOL Energy coal mines discharged deep mine
fluids into the creek.
The discharge caused a Golden Algae bloom that killed thousands of
fish, mussels, and salamanders along a 30-mile stretch of the creek.
Consol reached an agreement with state and federal authorities to
provide the DNR with funding to restore the creek and its animal life.
And they'll have help from nature, too.
The DNR says the stream has a tendency to restore itself, and that it
has already started.
"The minnows have come back more rapidly than we had anticipated and
they are coming in from the tributaries that were unimpacted, so that's
a pleasant surprise. So we'll continue to monitor them," said the DNR's
Frank Jernejcic, who helped put together the proposal.
As part of its agreement, Consol Energy updated the public on a new
water treatment plant to clean the water that caused the kill.
The DNR will take public input on its plan through the end of September.