Dunkard Creek probe focused on algae
Photo courtesy WVDEP
Investigators from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection have narrowed the focus of their probe of that huge fish kill on Dunkard Creek to a non-native algae — called Golden-Brown Algae.
During interviews this evening, WVDEP officials and the folks at CONSOL Energy Inc. both pointed to this algae as perhaps the central culprit in actually killing thousands of Dunkard Creek fish, mussels, salamanders and other aquatic life. The algae apparently releases some sort of toxin that damages gills, eventually killing aquatic life and making it appear that a lack of dissolved oxygen was to blame, officials told me.
But, that doesn’t mean that government investigators have ruled out coal-mining discharges in the area as playing a role.
Scott Mandirola, director of the WVDEP Division of Water and Waste Management, told me that outside experts advised his agency that the algae in question would be more likely to occur in water with a higher salt content. And, we know from yesterday’s excellent West Virginia Public Broadcasting story that CONSOL operations on Dunkard Creek have exceeded state standards for chloride salt discharges for years. Asked about Dunkard Creek’s chloride problems, and any possible relation to the fish kill, Mandirola said:
We know there are some of these issues on Dunkard Creek, and those are probably contributing factors.
Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for CONSOL, told me about the same thing. Hoffman said investigators still need to figure out exactly how the algae got into the stream, and what factors present in the creek helped it grow:
We’re now fairly certain that the fish are being killed by this particular algae. What we don’t know yet is where did this algae come from and what are the conditions that made this bloom grow the way it has grown. Everybody wants to point at our discharge, but it is readily apparent that there are a host of issues.
In another update, I’m posting here a spreadsheet file of WVDEP’s water sampling data collected during the Dunkard Creek investigation. You may recall that WVDEP previously refused to release this to the public. Agency spokeswoman Kathy Cosco provided it a little while ago, with this e-mail note:
While the DEP is reticent, as a matter of ordinary prudence, to routinely disclose investigatory information it obtains that may result in civil penalties or even criminal charges against an environmental offender, the agency recognizes that there is substantial public interest in these particular materials, and that their disclosure appears to pose only a minimal risk to the ongoing investigation and any eventual prosecution.
As that Public Broadcasting piece reported:
Since at least 2002, mining company Consol Energy has been releasing chloride into Dunkard Creek at higher levels than state standards allow. But the West Virginia DEP has repeatedly given the company extra time to comply.
Scientists looking at a massive fish kill on Dunkard Creek on the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border are zeroing in on extremely high levels of chloride, a chemical compound.
In September 2002, DEP officials found that Consol was violating water quality standards by releasing high levels of chloride into streams at several sites, including two along Dunkard Creek.
But three times – in 2004, 2007 and 2008 – the DEP issued compliance orders giving Consol additional time to meet these standards.
And it’s important to note that Dunkard Creek has been listed as biologically impaired for a number of years, in part because of high conductivity — the ability of the water to conduct electricity — linked to chloride discharges.
20 comments
Seems to me that WV DEP is trying its hardest to mislead the public. I am a PhD biologist and algae do not produce the levels of TDS and chlorides that were found in Dunkard Creek, coincidigng with the Blacksville No. 2 outfall. See http://wvgazette.com/static/coal%20tattoo/Dunkard_EPAmemo.pdf for the data.
Andrew,
Thanks for your comment … but let me make sure I was clear on what DEP is saying … They are NOT saying that the algae produced the TDS and chlorides levels found in Dunkard Creek.
Rather, they are saying that experts are telling them that the salty water might have been a good environment for the algae to spread in — and therefore that the mine water is partly to blame here.
Does that make more sense to you?
Ken.
Readers,
WV Public Broadcasting has an update on its story as well, http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=11415.
It quotes DEP Secretary Randy Huffman:
West Virginia DEP Secretary Randy Huffman is blaming an algae bloom for killing hundreds of fish, mussels and salamanders earlier this month in Dunkard Creek.
He said the conditions in the creek were ripe for the algae bloom because of high levels of chloride and other dissolved solids, as well as the creek’s temperature.
Ken.
OK, check out the WV DEP’s own data at http://wvgazette.com/static/coal%20tattoo/WVDEP_Dunkard_Data.xls - conductivity at all of the Blacksville No. 2 outfalls were at the 5 digit range - if you believe that this is the result of an algal bloom, then I’ve got a bridge in Manhattan that you might be interested in buying! Right now WV DEP and Consol are sitting at home with their fingers crossed, hoping the citizens of WV believe this fable!
Ken - No, this idea about the algae makes no sense to me. There is no fish in the world that could have survived the TDS and chloride levels found in Dunkard. I don’t doubt that the algae were there but I’m sure they had only a minor role to play in the fish kill.
If this is the WVDEP’s official story, then they have already made the case for EPA. If this is true, they are incompetent as biologists and have used their position to abuse the public trust.
Why is that WVDEP and Tom Hoffman, CONSOL’s media flack, are the only two entities flogging the super-powered mutant algae from outer space theory? On our side of the state line, PADEP and the news media have placed the blame squarely on a massive fracking wastewater discharge. Valuable time has been wasted in an almost comical attempt to absolve CONSOL of any fiduciary responsibility in this incident. Wouldn’t time be better spent devising a plan to salvage the Dunkard Creek watershed? I don’t think lighting candles and praying to the Virgin for a miraculous healing will in any way resolve the situation.
Governor Rendell has been pressuring EPA to relieve WVDEP of its responsibility for enforcing the Clean Water Act, solely due to the fracking discharges into the Mon. They have made it apparent that they are unable or unwilling to do the job themselves.
PA Gov Rendell is pressuring the EPA to relieve the WVDEP of its responsibility to enforce the CWA?
Now thats a good story - Julieann can you give us more details or a link?
While I am certainly no PhD biologist. I do believe that the chloride salt found in the creek in question is a result of calcium carbonate being added to mine drainage water. I think it is produced by the reaction between the calcium and water.
Hey, something changed for the fish kills to occur.
Also, muskie is sensitive to water quality. For that species to have remained in Dunkard Creek the prior conditions had to be relatively good.
Again, many things can cause fish kills — a gallon of the wrong chemical poured in during very low flow conditions could do it.
There are many-many-many alga — still discovering new ones. Those are usually deadily via blooms that great huge biological oxygen demands (BODs) that sucks most of the oxygen from the water very quickly.
Do doubt: many possible and likely causes will be identified, but no single cause will be faulted — which may be the truth.
I would like to thank PA Governor Rendell for joining those of us that have asked the Fed. EPA to dismiss the WV DEP from it’s authority to regulate or enforce the Clean Water Act. Huffman under Manchin has now managed to directly poison another states water. Seems to me that the US Justice Dept. should be investigating the WV DEP. Huffman should resign without further delay. He isn’t going to weasel his way through this.
Dave Cooper,
I think that Julieann overstated what is going on there … and it is a story that the Gazette has covered … Don’t know if you read our Sustained Outrage blog or not, but if you check this out:
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/watchdog/2009/08/19/pa-going-over-wvas-head-on-mon-river-pollution/
You’ll learn more …
Our neighbors to the north are apparently growing tired of West Virginia’s inaction — or action through only baby steps — to deal with the potential water pollution problems from disposal of “pit fluids” from large-scale oil and gas drilling.
According to a story over the weekend by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopey, Pennsylvania authorities have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in and set tougher pollution limits for Monongahela River.
Pennsylvania DEP Secretary John Hanger told Hopey that his state has issued orders limiting the discharges of total dissolved solids, or TDS, in the Mon — and, perhaps more importantly, has started the lengthy process of drafting new regulatory controls. But, Hanger said, West Virginia hasn’t done likewise
Ken.
wvdep dropped the ball - again! The WVDEP is corrupt and should be overtaken by the EPA, as the law allows..
rhmooney3 is correct. The problem is coming so many different fronts.
First, you have an ongoing conductivity/TDS/Chloride problem. The draft TMDL for the Dunkard (http://www.wvdep.org/Docs/16667_Draft_Dunkard_TMDL_Report_3_3_09.pdf) is based on data from July 2005-June 2006 and shows that the WV Fork (location of the Consol mine), South Fork WV Fork have biological impairments in part due to ionic stress (i.e., conductivity/TDS/Chloride). The 303d list (http://www.wvdep.org/Docs/16495_WV_2008_IR_Supplements_Complete_Version_EPA_Approved.pdf) shows the WV Fork, South Fork WV Fork and one trib are all listed for Chlorides. The likeliest source of this is mining. We’re just getting started!
Second, you add in the Marcellus shale gas extraction process. “I do believe that the chloride salt found in the creek in question is a result of calcium carbonate being added to mine drainage water.” This may be true, but frac water is called frac water because it dissolves halites (i.e., salts) in the strata allowing the natural gas to easily flow thru the fractures and be collected. As others have observed, this frac water is really nasty stuff and can contain a multitude of dissolved solids including heavy metals, salts, organics (an additive to the frac water) and even radioactive materials. As to whether any frac water was involved, who knows, but it would not be surprising if there were some illegal discharges (or maybe even legal) into the Dunkard.
Third, frac water needs to come from somewhere, so trucks are pumping water like crazy from the stream, thus lowering the baseflow (and yes, they do take that much water). Lower baseflow means less dilute, oxygenated water to mix with the highly saturated, low oxygen water coming from the mines and/or frac water. Now things are starting to cook!
Fourth, the Dunkard has been experiencing some low flows over the last 60 days (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00065=on&cb_00060=on&cb_00095=on&format=gif_stats&period=60&site_no=03072000). Some of this could be from dewatering for frac water, but some of this could just be from a lack of rain recharging the groundwater.
And finally, we add the secret ingredient, the Golden Brown Algae. They thrive in higher conductivties and more saline water (provided by the mine outfalls 005 and 016 on the spreadsheet at http://wvgazette.com/static/coal%20tattoo/WVDEP_Dunkard_Data.xls). And a quick search of the internet shows that Texas has problems with fish kills from Golden Brown Algae (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/environconcerns/hab/ga/status.phtml), Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Maryland (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/hab/heterosigma_akashiwo.html) as do pond owners (http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/golden_algae_control.html). The Dunkard isn’t exactly a raging stream like Deckers Creek is it? It sort of just meanders along with more slow moving pools than fast areas. But what really interests me here is the Texas and Oklahoma. In the early part of the 20th century, my family had several people that were involved in the Oil/Gas industry in Texas and Oklahoma. Because of this boom, a lot of Oil and Gas companies are headquartered there. They have lots of equipment based there. I bet some of that equipment has been transported up here for drilling. I wonder how well they clean the equipment. All it would take is one viable cell and the right conditions.
As far as the Mon TDS problems, how come the PA DEP and Governor Rendell were allowing frac water from the Susquehanna basin to be shipped over I-70 for disposal at several waste water treatment plants (which are not equipped to lower the TDS, conductivity, chlorides, etc. in waste water before dishcharge) along the Mon? If PA Gov Rendell and the PA DEP are so great, how come they were allowing this? I don’t think WV allowed such disposal at the time specifically because they were not equipped to do so. So I wonder where some of the WV frac water went during that time? WVDEP has certainly dropped the ball when it comes to allowing the amount of Chlorides in the Dunkard, but don’t point all of the fingers at WV for the Mon TDS problem.
Ken,
I am wondering what proof is there of the algae being present? Has anyone identified it in the numbers that would need to be present to create a fish kill? Along with that there should be the toxin created by the algae in the water, and also in the mud. I would hope that someone able to do so would challenge the wvdep on this, they may be right, but they need to show us the proof inorder to regain their credibility with many of us. The way the wvdep laid out the theory of algea it just seemed so speculative, maybe I missed it but there did not seem to be any statement that it was identified in the quantity needed to produce a fishkill.
I just have to wonder, surely some agency ( hopefully not the WVDEP) is doing some in depth testing of the tissues of the aquatic life that has been destroyed in this mess. Surely to goodness whatever killed them would show up in the toxicology testing of those tissues, and I hope to goodness those tissue samples are NOT being sent to anywhere the WVDEP has any say whatsoever in reporting the outcomes of those tests.
The public deserves to be informed of that data, as well as all reports and testing done on all the waters in this state.
They could do us all a big favor and give us the name of this oogedyboogedy algae. “Golden brown” doesn’t get you very far.
McLovin the water quality data suggested that dissolved O2 limitation wasn’t a problem, see the report linked by Andrew above, those values are well within the healthy range for free flowing streams. Of course real-time measurements would clarify whether there were pulses of Low DO.
the shoaling of fishes at the mouth of tributaries and spring seeps does suggest that the stressors were still present in the water at the time of observation, and normal DO at those times seems to rule out DO as a culprit.
It is true that the DO probably was ok when they sampled, but I am thinking big picture (stressor interaction). The DO will swing throughout the day being the lowest just at sunrise. This is because the algae will consume the oxygen throughtout the night. During the day, the algae produces oxygen. So if they (WVDEP et.al.) are sampling during the day, we are only seeing part of the the DO picture. In addition, any decomposing bacteria on the dead fish in the water will also consume the oxygen. Plus, if you get a huge algal bloom that suddenly dies off, decomposition will use up the oxygen again.
As far as IDs on the Algae (or tissue), just let DEP get the results first. It will take some time to get the algae identified properly by a Phycologist and I doubt that DEP (or WV for that matter) has any trained on staff.
I wonder how many cities will get drinking water downstream from Dunkard Creek.
Oh geez, how many cities and towns get their water from the Mon, the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers? I would hate to be the one to have to add all of them up.
I have heard it said many times that everything that goes into the water here all goes downstream all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Every stream and tributary that is impaired and polluted greatly multiplies the pollution of our great rivers.
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