W.Va. 'Not Ready' to Say Mine Water Supporting Algae

Washington, PA Observer-Reporter
26 September 2009
By Bob Niedbala Staff writer niedbala@observer-reporter.com

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said Friday it believes a golden algae bloom may be to blame for the Dunkard Creek fish kill.

West Virginia DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said investigators believe conditions in the creek contributed to the algae growth, including low flow, warm water temperatures and high levels of chloride and other dissolved solids.

High chloride levels have been attributed, in part, to discharges from Consol Energy's Blacksville No. 2 Mine and its mine water treatment plant upstream in St. Leo, W.Va.

The agency also cites as a possible source a brine disposal well in Greene County operated by CNX Gas Co. at the Morris Run Mine Shaft of Consol Energy's closed Blacksville No. 1 Mine.

"Whether it is a contributing factor, we're not ready to conclude that," Cosco said. "As we've said, we haven't ruled anything out."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permitted the well in 2005 for disposal of the produced fluid, or brine, from the company's coal bed methane wells.

EPA on Aug. 6 issued an administrative order assessing CNX a penalty of $157,500 for allegedly failing to adequately staff and secure the well site, monitor the well's cumulative volume and report noncompliance with its permit.

According to the permit, the company can dispose of up to 150,000 barrels of fluid a month in the well, a mine pool more than 700 feet below ground surface.

The agency has issued a proposed consent agreement and order on the alleged violations, which has just been the subject of a public comment period but is not final. The proposed agreement alleges:

* CNX has used contract haulers to transport water to the well for disposal.

* Between Dec. 23, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2008, no flow meter was operational at the well to measure cumulative volume. During an inspection Aug. 7, 2008, EPA found the gate open, no lock on ball valves at the truck off-loading area and no flow meter in use. The wire from the previous flow meter had been cut, and no CNX staff or operator was present at the site, EPA said.

* Between Dec. 23, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2008, the only method of recording the volume of fluid discharged at the well was a truck log book kept at the site. Since Sept. 1, 2005, not all truck drivers that discharged at the site recorded or accurately recorded their discharge in the log book.

* Company records of sampling results indicate that between about September 2007 and March 2009, at least 100 truckloads of fluid were disposed of at the site with total dissolved solid levels that "varied significantly" from expected TDS levels provided in the permit application, and eight truckloads of water contained E. coli bacteria, indicating sewage.

Company spokesman Tom Hoffman said Friday that all the violations at the site were corrected in August 2008, long before the fish kill began.

The company uses the well for wastewater collected from the Pittsburgh seam during coal bed methane drilling. CNX's Marcellus Shale wastewater, which is not recycled, is disposed of at municipal treatment plants in Clairton and McKeesport, he said.

In regard to speculation the Blacksville No. 1 water might have infiltrated Blacksville No. 2, Hoffman said that still would not explain why the fish kill began about five miles downstream from the Blacksville No. 2 outfall and then eventually moved upstream of the mine's discharge.