Groups say DEP lax on enforcement

Call for EPA to investigate Dunkard fish kill

Morgantown Dominion Post
1 October 2009
By Alex Lang

Some groups say the state Department of Environment Protection’s report is insufficient — it is the discharges from Blacksville No.2 mine that are behind the Dunkard Creek fish kill.

The Friends of Dunkard Creek, the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, the Greene County, Pa., Watershed Alliance and the Wheeling Creek Watershed Conservancy said one of the main reasons for the recent algae bloom is elevated levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and chloride in the stream.

Last week, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released a statement saying the brown-gold algae is likely responsible for the fish kill. Such algae are mainly found in waters with a high salt or mineral content.

“We don’t doubt there might have been algae,” Friends of Dunkard Creek Senior Director Jim O’Connell said. “But, it could not have survived without the salty water.”

DEP Spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said the TDS and chloride from the Blacksville No. 2 mine are above the acceptable levels. But, she said the toxins produced by the algae bloom is the reason for the fish kill, not the chloride.

The fish kill began about seven miles from where the mine discharges into the stream. The chloride levels at that point in the stream were not high enough to kill the fish on their own, Cosco said.

CONSOL, which owns the Blacksville No. 2 mine, is working on its discharge levels with the DEP. CONSOL Public Relations Director Joseph Cerenzia said the amounts vary daily.

The DEP has given the company until September 2013 to meet acceptable chloride levels, Cerenzia said. They are working with the state agency to determine a solution, such as pumping somewhere else, he said.

The company has been given the extended time because the chloride problem is a difficult issue, said DEP Director of the Division of Mining and Reclamation Tom Clarke. CONSOL had nine different areas where chloride is a concern. They were given time to develop a plan, then acquire the necessary land and equipment to execute it.

In 2002, the DEP determined that the chloride levels should be regulated, Clarke said. The discharge from Blacksville No. 2 had probably been occurring for years and it had not affected the fish population. This is why the dumping was allowed to continue under a compliance schedule, Clarke said.

The DEP is still investigating what caused the algae to bloom and kill the fish.

Officials from the West Virginia DEP, Pennsylvania DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are working to develop a solution for the fish kill situation, Cosco said. CONSOL is continuing its investigation into the fish kill, Cerenzia said.

Betty Wiley, president of the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, called for the EPA to take over the investigation because the creek is in two states.

“The EPA should take charge because it’s a huge problem,” Wiley said.

The DEP has already shown it can be lax on enforcement by allowing the mine to discharge into the creek, Wiley said.

She added she would like to see tougher enforcement and standards before the Dunkard Creek situation happens in other waterways.

O’Connell said that he has heard it will take years before Dunkard Creek returns to normal. It will take a while for the ecosystem and fish life to return to the stream.

“The event is greater than a fish kill,” O’Connell said. “It was a stream destruction.”