Ecological Disaster Unfolding in Dunkard Creek
WV-DEP Says Toxic Algae Could Spread to 21 Other Streams
Mountain State Sierran
November/December 2009
Jim Kotcon, WV Chapter
A long-running dispute over salts from gas drilling and mine discharges
has turned into an unprecedented disaster in Monongalia County. Dead
fish began to be observed in Dunkard Creek in early September, and
within a few weeks, virtually all fish and one of the state's richest
mussel populations were dead.
For several years, Consol's Blacksville No. 2 mine has been discharging
high levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), including levels of
chlorides in excess of state Water Quality Standards. In fact, WV-DEP
issued a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Dunkard Creek earlier this
year which was intended to limit pollution discharges and bring water
quality back into compliance with Standards. Unfortunately, the WV-DEP
TMDL included a compliance "schedule" which delayed clean-up of the
Blacksville No. 2 discharge until 2013.
Due to poor market conditions, Blacksville No. 2 had halted operations
for most of the summer, but re-started production in late August.
Within days, dead fish began to appear in Dunkard Creek. But because of
high levels of chloride, many feared the problem was actually
associated with illegal dumping of brines and drilling fluids from
natural gas wells.
WV-DEP eventually pinned the blame on a marine algae first reported
from Texas in 1985, Prymnesium parvum. This "Golden Algae" produces a
toxin that mainly kills fish but, unlike red tide, isn't harmful to
humans. It likes brackish water, and it appears that the right levels
of salts, acidity, chlorides and sulfates were present in Dunkard Creek
to produce a toxic bloom.
How the Golden Algae got to Dunkard Creek is not clear, but a leading
theory is that gas drillers from Gulf Coast states may have unknowingly
released it while pumping water from the stream for fracking new gas
wells. It appears that the algae may be able to survive over winter
here, which suggests we may have a permanent invasive pest.
Even more disturbing, WV-DEP admits that 21 streams of 10 miles or more
in length appear to have salt and pH conditions conducive to the Golden
Algae, including multiple streams in the Monongahela, Kanawha, and
Potomac watersheds. No rules, or even monitoring programs, currently
exist to slow the spread of the Golden Algae.
Meanwhile, the situation at Dunkard Creek keeps getting more confused.
The stream meanders back and forth across the West
Virginia/Pennsylvania state line, and the two states have not always
coordinated their environmental permitting or enforcement on a
watershed basis.
Pennsylvania had granted a permit to a Pennsylvania gas company to
inject well drilling wastes into a deep mine on the PA side of the
line, but the company involved suspended its injection as the fish kill
developed. EPA is now considering whether to revoke the well injection
permit, in part because the mines into which the fluids were being
injected may be connected, allowing brines to flow into Blacksville No.
2's discharges.
West Virginia still has no limits or regulations to prevent gas
companies from drawing water from streams, and no one has any clear
idea how often or how much water withdrawal is occurring, although
local residents claim to see trucks frequently.
In addition, some mine water is being treated and released into Dunkard
Creek from a subsidiary of the Longview Power plant, AMD Reclamation,
Inc. Although Longview had originally pledged to treat the water from
the nearby Shannopin Mine and use it for cooling water, last year
Longview filed a notice with the WV Public Service Commission to
announce that it would get cooling water directly from the Monongahela
River, and the partially-treated mine water would be discharged into
Dunkard creek instead. Although the discharged water meets standards
for pH and iron, removing TDS is a more expensive technology. Longview
claims they can not afford the more extensive treatment to remove
dissolved salts, but declined to provide any cost estimates.
The issue of TDS in the Monongahela River was also in the news last
year, when violations of Pennsylvania's standards for TDS were found to
be widespread.
Similar violations were reported again in Pennsylvania in fall 2009. It
is clear that at least a portion of the problem is associated with
discharges of gas well wastes, but a high proportion is also associated
with mine drainage discharges, both treated and untreated. Efforts to
improve enforcement, set tougher standards, and require better
treatment technologies are proceeding slowly, as evidenced by WV-DEP's
decision to delay compliance requirements at Blacksville No. 2 until
September 2013.
What You Can Do
Learn more about the issues at the Nov. 12 meeting of the Mon
Group (7 pm, 406 Allen Hall, WVU, Morgantown). The Dunkard Creek
Watershed Association has called for tougher enforcement and stricter
standards, and the Monongahela Group is supporting that effort.
Also, contact your local legislators and demand tougher enforcement and
strict standards to prevent the Golden Algae from spreading.