In Sunday’s big Gazette story about the Dunkard Creek fish kill, I reported that local residents were asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take over the investigation and response to this mess.

Ben Adducchio at West Virginia Public Broadcasting picked up on this after the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association issued a new release. Here’s the text of that news release:

The Friends of Dunkard Creek of Pennsylvania, Dunkard Creek Watershed Association of West Virginia, Wheeling Creek Watershed Conservancy and the Greene County Watershed Alliance urge the US Environmental Protection Administration to take the lead role in the investigation of the biological disaster that killed over 130 species of aquatic life in Dunkard Creek.

During September, Dunkard Creek experienced a biological disaster. Over 130 species of aquatic organisms, including fish, mussels and amphibians died in massive numbers.  Upper Dunkard Creek had been a thriving ecosystem, supporting a diverse aquatic ecological community, but that community now appears to be destroyed. The economic impact of the destruction of this recreational resource has not been determined, but it is likely significant. For many in our community, its destruction has altered a way of life. The loss also has inflicted personal suffering on many; Dunkard Creek had been a source of recreation for families for generations.

Residents of the Dunkard watershed and those living nearby have been anxious to determine the cause of this destruction. Investigators from several Pennsylvania and West Virginia agencies, as well as federal workers have been studying the situation. To date, the only agency to issue a report on it is the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP). In the report they stated that the ‘culprit’ in the Dunkard kill was a bloom of golden algae. 

The Friends of Dunkard Creek of Pennsylvania, Dunkard Creek Watershed Association of West Virginia, Wheeling Creek Watershed Conservancy and the Greene County Watershed Alliance believe that the recent statements by WVDEP have been misleading. We do not disagree that there was algal bloom, and that this may have played a role in killing large numbers of fish, but only a secondary role. The golden algae identified by WVDEP are only known to grow in extremely salty water. These algae generally are associated with bodies of water that have been affected by changes in stream water chemistry. In the case of Dunkard Creek, the primary cause of the massive kill would appear to be very high levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Chlorides.

Tests conducted by EPA and the WVDEP indicate that this material was coming from outfalls of the Blacksville No. 2 mine. Recently, it was revealed that WVDEP had been aware since at least 2004 that TDS and chloride levels from the Blacksville No. 2 mine had greatly exceeded maximum levels set by the Federal government. The fact that WVDEP was aware of this violation and repeatedly took no action is shameful. Because of its inaction, we believe that much of the blame for the massive Dunkard tragedy falls on the shoulders of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

In a September 13, 2009, story about nationwide violations of the Clean Water Act , the New York Times reported that “A half-dozen current and former employees [of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection], in interviews, said their enforcement efforts had been undermined by bureaucratic disorganization, a departmental preference to let polluters escape punishment if they promise to try harder, and a revolving door of regulators who leave for higher-paying jobs at the companies they once policed.”

In the same story, the Times noted that “The [US Environmental Protection Agency] E.P.A. administrator, [Lisa P.]Jackson, whose appointment was confirmed in January, said in an interview that she intended to strengthen enforcement of the Clean Water Act and pressure states to apply the law.”

These local organizations supporting clean water believe that only the US Environmental Protection Agency has the resources needed to synthesize data and critically examine the facts. Given the severity of the disaster and the shortcomings that WVDEP has already shown, we call on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study of the causes of the Dunkard disaster. We also call on the EPA to include in their study an analysis of steps that must be taken to restore Dunkard Creek as a functioning aquatic ecosystem.They also called on the EPA to develop a stream and habitat restoration plan with a detailed cost analysis to fully restore Dunkard Creek as a functioning aquatic ecosystem.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under Coal pollution, Water pollution. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.