DEP, Consol Working on Mine Water Plan
Washington, PA Observer-Reporter
5 December 2009
By Bob Niedbala, Staff writer
niedbala@observer-reporter.com
State environmental officials said Thursday they are working with
Consol Energy Inc. to develop a plan to pump water potentially high in
total dissolved solids from the company's Blacksville No. 2 Mine.
The company stopped pumping water from the mine into Dunkard Creek
Sept. 17 after fish and other aquatic life in the stream began to die.
Tests indicated high levels of TDS in the creek water at the mine's
water discharge.
Water is now beginning to build up inside the mine and is reaching a
"critical" point at which it could jeopardize the safety of mine
employees, Consol spokesman Joe Cerenzia said Thursday. No danger
exists the water will breach the surface.
Patrick Campbell, assistant director for water and waste management for
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, speaking Thursday
at a public meeting on Dunkard Creek said the agency has met with the
company several times.
The agency and company are considering options to lower the water pool
in the mine without possibly causing another algae bloom in Dunkard
Creek, Campbell said.
State and federal environmental agencies believe toxins produced by a
bloom of golden algae caused the fish kill in September. They also said
high levels of TDS in the creek contributed to the algae bloom.
Ronald Schwartz, assistant director for the southwest region of the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said at Thursday's
meeting water samples had been taken inside the mine.
Tests of those samples are not complete, DEP spokeswoman Helen
Humphreys said Friday. However, the Blacksville No. 2 mine water
"historically" has contained high levels of TDS, she said. A West
Virginia DEP spokesman could not be reached Friday for comment.
Cerenzia, who attended Thursday's public meeting, said the makeup of
the water in the mine is "very similar" to what has been found in the
mine for the last several years.
The mine water is typically higher in TDS and chloride than water found
in other mines. The higher levels are naturally present in parts of the
coal reserve, he said.
Cerenzia said the company is working with the agencies to resolve the
issue of the mine water so the company can continue to operate the
mine. He said he was not sure how much longer the mine can continue
storing water before it becomes a hazard to workers.
Though the mine treats water for acidity and various heavy metals, it
does not treat for TDS. The company is under a compliance order from
West Virginia DEP to reduce its TDS levels by 2013.
Several people in the audience at Thursday's meeting asked if
enforcement agencies could force the company to take steps to reduce
the levels sooner than 2013.
Consol maintains its mine discharge was not solely to blame for the
fish kill. The company has mined coal and discharging mine water into
the stream there for years without problems, Cerenzia said. In
addition, many factors now appear to have come into play in causing the
algae to bloom, he said.