DNR Biologists Find 25-27 Species of Fish in Dunkard Creek
DNR biologists look at a part of Dunkard Creek
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
26 July 2010
By Ben Adducchio
July 26, 2010 · Last week, Division of Natural Resources
biologists searched for fish and other aquatic life in a Monongalia
County stream. They have found some varied types of fish while
searching the creek.
It’s been nearly one year since a massive fish kill in Dunkard Creek
wiped out thousands of fish, mussels, and salamanders, but aquatic life
is slowly returning to the stream.
Biologists with the Division of Natural Resources visited six sites
along Dunkard Creek, a stream in Monongalia County, within the last
week.
The DNR is assessing the recovery of the stream since last September’s
fish kill.
DNR Biologist Frank Jernejcic says they found more than expected: 25 to
27 different species are living in the stream.
“Compared to what we have collected over the years, we found a high
percentage of those fish back in the stream - mainly minnows, and
darters, and suckers. Again, these were all small fish,” he said.
Jernejcic says the population of small fish indicates a recovery of the
fish population in Dunkard Creek.
He also thinks because there are small fish in the stream, fish
reproduction is occurring.
“It could mean reproduction in the stream, or reproduction in the
tributaries, and those fish moved into the stream, but I think it was a
little bit of both, maybe more of the latter,” he said.
The DNR plans to go back to Dunkard Creek in October to visit a few
sites where it has sampled fish, as well as search some new places in
order to determine where the fish are coming from, and how quickly
aquatic life is returning to the stream.
“We found most of the species that were there before the kill; we found
them now. We didn’t find any large fish. These would be the large sport
fish, or fish that might move up from the Monongahela River,” he said.
“We haven’t seen any of that occur yet.”
Last September, thousands of dead fish and salamanders, also known as
mud puppies, were found on the banks of Dunkard Creek, which meanders
through northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
State environmental officials say a golden algae bloom caused the kill,
but Pennsylvania environmental officials and the Environmental
Protection Agency also say mining discharges helped create conditions
for the algae to bloom.
On July 1, another fish kill occurred, this time in a tributary of
Dunkard Creek.
Six to 7,000 thousand fish were wiped out.
Tom Aluise is a spokesman for the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection.
“Right now, we’re not certain of what happened, and we may never know.
We are still looking into it. We’re still compiling information; we’re
still waiting for some monitoring data to run its course,” he said.
“When that happens, we may know more, but right now, we can’t point to
any one thing.”
Some in the community are not only pointing to mining discharges, but to
gas well drilling activity as a possible explanation to the fish kills.
Aluise says there is no evidence to show this was the case for the
latest kill.
“It doesn’t appear that any type of industrial activity had an impact,
like I say, we’re still looking into it.”
Gas well drilling in West Virginia has increased in recent years.
According to the DEP, about 500 gas wells have been drilled into the
Marcellus shale in West Virginia in the last three years.
The DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas is reviewing its operating procedures
due to the increased demand to drill into the Marcellus shale.
Aluise says he’s not sure when the review will be completed.