A new federal government report blames coal-mining discharges for creating the conditions that allowed an exotic algae to bloom, killing all aquatic life in Dunkard Creek, the scenic stream along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border.
My buddy Don Hopey at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the first story on this here, and you can read the report for yourself here.
As Don reported, the EPA report agrees with previous West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection conclusions that the toxic Golden Algae was responsible for killing thousands of fish, mussels, salamanders and other aquatic life in Dunkard Creek in September. It’s not clear exactly how the algae got there in the first place.
But, the 17-page EPA report also notes that high conductivity and dissolved solids in the creek — coming from coal-mine discharges — created conditions favorable to the algae’s growth to toxic levels. Normally, this particular algae is confined to brackish waters, mostly in the southwestern U.S.
Interestingly, the EPA report notes that federal officials previously (on Sept. 30 — in the midst of the investigation of the fish kill) approved the WVDEP’s cleanup plan for some pollution problems in Dunkard Creek. EPA notes that the cleanup plan, called a TMDL, would deal with some of the “stressors” on Dunkard Creek’s water quality.
But, the EPA report didn’t really make clear that the TMDL does nothing about the central causes of the fish kill — the high conductivity in the stream, an indication of high dissolved solids such as chlorides coming from the area’s coal-mine discharges. There have been some indications that Dunkard Creek might be a wake-up call for WVDEP about these problems.
And in its Sept. 30 letter approving the state’s cleanup plan, EPA said “additional action may prove necessary.” The EPA letter continued:
EPA anticipates that information developed as a result of the investigation may necessitate development of new TMDLs and/or other actions, such as enforcement. EPA intends to coordinate closely with WVDEP to evaluate new information generated by the investigation into this fish kill and to devise an appropriate and timely response.
Meanwhile, Betty Wiley, president of the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, told Hopey that a preliminary estimate put the cost of restoring Dunkard Creek at $30 million.
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So what now — kill the golden algae so it doesn’t kill again or maybe buy some “fish credits” in another stream to offset the impacts to Dunkard? (Wait a couple of years and see.)
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The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is working with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency in the investigation of the Dunkard Creek fish kill.
http://www.wvdep.org/item.cfm?ssid=11&ss1id=987
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http://www.wvablue.com/tag/Death%20of%20Dunkard%20Creek
It certainly looks more and more like Consol Energy is the most immediate party responsible for the conditions leading to the death of dunkard creek.
I also wonder if there will ever be enough evidence to figure out one way or another if the algae arrived on a fracing truck hose from Texas, if it just floated here in the air, or maybe caught a ride in someone’s motor boat.
There’s plenty of people who have aided and abetted Consol Energy in allowed these conditions to exist and persist. See: http://www.wvablue.com/tag/Death%20of%20Dunkard%20Creek
Now the damage is done: what are they going to do to make it right?
(Ooops, sorry for double post of link, didn’t see the first one before I posted.)
Release of New EPA Report on Dunkard Creek Forces Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to Do About Face on Marcellus Shale
OK, so now this algae is in Cabin Creek. I have to wonder how many streams are infected with this algae in WV and if the DEP or DNR plans on testing all of our streams for this stuff. Also, if enough tributaries to the larger rivers are infected, wouldn’t that mean that our rivers will eventually be contaminated with it?
Nanette,
Other readers may not have seen the mention of Cabin Creek in my Gazette story:
http://wvgazette.com/News/200912020709
West Virginia officials have found high levels of an exotic algae blamed for a huge Monongalia County fish kill in Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, according to water quality data made public Wednesday.
Ken
Also, if you follow the links in the story, you’ll see a list of the streams that were tested and the results ..
http://www.wvdep.org/Docs/18520_2009_12_02_13_59_20.pdf
My understand is that they tested streams based on their conditions, to look at ones where it seemed likely this algae would show up.
Ken.
Energy in Depth,
Before you pick on Don Hopey, you should read the EPA report more closely — they certainly continue to believe drilling fluids are something that needs to be looked at here as well as a contributing factor.
Ken.
How did the mine discharge cause the fish kill if the kill extended upstream of the mine discharge? Just wondering. Also, the algae probably came in on someones boots or waders, see reports about “rock snot” algae for details about this method of introduction.
If you look carefully at the 17 page EPA report, the main focus is on chlorides. Mine discharges contain little chloride, unless they are combined with other waters (like a frac water injection well).
Mining operations have been present on Dunkard for years. So what’s changed? Answer – the Marcellus gas play. The chloride originates from old sea salt in the shale bed, and comes up with frac water. Where has all the frac water gone since the Marcellus play started? Do the agencies have any way to account for this waste? I think we know.
This event provides a convenient opportunity to beat up on mining, which environmental activists love to do. But if you rely on science instead of politics, and look at what’s changed in recent years, I think you’ll come to a different conclusion.
Ken I looked at that list and I sure didn’t see many streams that should have been checked. There are many tributaries along the Coal River that is not on that list. All of these smaller streams need to be checked that feed the rivers in the coal producing counties, and the counties where there have been a lot of gas drilling. We have had both.
All I have to say about the Dunkard incident is that I don’t think this came from anything to do with mountaintop mining. If I not mistaking this was underground mining. Also thank you greenspace for that information. The mire truth that is out there the more lives that are saved in Appalachia by keeping jobs.
Thanks Greenspace, that was more along the lines of my thinking when the conductivity was mentioned.
This post was actually longer but I got some kind of spam filter blacklist error.
greenspace and brandon,
No … Dunkard Creek did not involve mountaintop removal. You’re right about that Brandon. BUT, the important thing in that regard is to go back and look at this post from Coal Tattoo:
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/09/28/conductivity-a-looming-problem-for-coal-wvdep/
Conductivity was the issue at Dunkard Creek … that’s what allowed the algae to thrive. And conductivity is a looming problem for the coal industry and WVDEP (and EPA for that matter) at mountaintop removal sites, as I mention in that post.
Secondly, greenspace — we’re not talking strictly about mining discharges here. If you read this story:
http://wvgazette.com/News/200909260767
You’ll see that these are discharges from mine water treatment facilities, and the problem with these discharges is indeed increased chlorides.
Ken.
1. At this point it is irrelevant to worry about how the algae got here (air currents, waterfowl, Marcellus Shale extraction equipment, waders, boats). It is here and here to stay. In all likelyhood, it is and has been present in WV and elsewhere in the East for awhile.
2. To Nanette-Theoretically, yes the larger rivers could accumulate a population large enough to cause a kill, but if a stream becomes too large and deep (e.g., Kanawha River) the lack of light penetration into the water column would likely kill off the algae. Also, the salinity would have to be maintained.
2. Also, the streams selected for testing look to be those of similar size to the Dunkard and at least a healthy fraction of the salinity/conductivity observed with some controls. This first round of testing would be a standard means of screening a large area (WV) and then begin to zero in on hits, especially those with a significant abundance of the algae. Unfortunately, by the time the results came back, the algal counts would be minimal and not likely to turn up in further testing until next Spring when conditions are more favorable for growth. I suspect that more intensive testing will occur on Cabin Creek to track down the extent of the algae population and further screening of other locations across the state.
3. To Greenspace, yes “Mine discharges contain little chloride, unless they are combined with other waters (like a frac water injection well).” However, there is a unique situation in the coal geology of the western Monongahela basin. The coal seams there dip to form a giant underground pool. In order to keep the active underground mines clear of water, they have to be pumped out. There are at least half a dozen such pumping stations in the basin in WV with one of them at St. Leo just upstream of the Consol Blacksville # 2 mine discharge on the Dunkard. The pumping is also necessary to prevent the water pressure created by the pool from causing mine blowouts and general damage to private property. The pumped water is high in Chlorides and Consol has had a permit to discharge the water at least since around 2002, long before the Marcellus Shale extraction frenzy began. This is not to say that Marcellus Shale frac water didn’t play into this. If anything, it probably accelerated the situation to the tipping point (where the algae could bloom in amounts large enough to affect the aquatic life-fish, mussels, salamanders) faster.
4.To Yogipsk-Fish are not stationary, they move. So it is likely that many fish moved upstream to find refuge and still succombed to the stress they experienced downstream, thus dead fish upstream.
Thanks May Fly Guy … very informative post. Ken.
The Golden algae is just a type of weapon used — it’s not the perpetrator of the crime. The focus should on who or what actually caused it to happen.
Fish-kills happen for many reasons…and they are common.
Fyi:
Fish-kill Events in North Carolina
http://www.esb.enr.state.nc.us/Fishkill/fishkillmain.htm
Time lapse movie showing the locations and mortalities of North Carolina fish-kill events, 1997 to 2008
http://www.esb.enr.state.nc.us/Fishkill/KillTimeLapse.wmv
(1:24 minutes)
Thanks Mayfly guy, I realize that fish move, but I was under the impression that this stream was mostly isolated pools with mostly a rock strewn flow above this discharge and the kill extended quite a ways upstream, thanks for the clarification.
[...] Coal-mine drainage is at least partly to blame for the destruction of Dunkard Creek along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania line, an incident [...]
[...] formal “notice of intent to sue” comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection blamed CONSOL’s mine discharges [...]