Dana 'Open to Suggestions' for Dunkard Creek Plan
Washington PA Observer Reporter
3 September 2010
By Bob Niedbala, Staff writer
niedbala@observer-reporter.com
MT. MORRIS - Greene County residents had a chance Thursday to review a
plan developed by Dana Mining Co. to address water quality issues in
the lower portion of Dunkard Creek.
At an open house meeting at the Mt. Morris fire hall, company officials
presented a plan to reduce total dissolved solids in the creek by
constructing a pipeline to transport water from the Steele Shaft
treatment plant directly to the Monongahela River.
Several people attending the meeting interviewed by a reporter said
they were not against the plan, though one said he did have concerns
about other issues related to the operation.
The plan, developed in cooperation with the state Department of
Environmental Protection, calls for building a 9-mile pipeline from
Steele Shaft to the river.
Steele Shaft now discharges directly into Dunkard Creek. It treats mine
water for acidity and heavy metals but not for total dissolved solids.
With the pipeline, water discharged from the plant will bypass the
portion of the creek from the plant downstream to the river.
The plan also calls for managing discharge into the river by the use of
underground water storage and developing a system to collect water from
other acid mine discharges downstream from Steele Shaft that now
pollute the creek.
The Steele Shaft plant was built by AMD Reclamation Inc., a nonprofit
formed by Dana, to address a potential mine water break from the
abandoned Shannopin Mine. The highly acidic water in the mine was
reaching a level at which it could breach the surface and pollute
Dunkard Creek and the river.
Dana worked with the state to develop the plant. It, too, had an
interest in the problem. Dana mines Sewickley seam coal, which is above
the Pittsburgh seam coal mined by Shannopin. Dana's mines also were
being flooded by the rising mine pool.
The company worked with DEP to develop a new plan to address the issue
of total dissolved solids in the creek.
Martin Niverth, water quality coordinator for the Isaac Walton League,
said the group is not against the company's plan but believes it must
include a system to collect water from abandoned discharges downstream.
The Steele Shaft plant is now often used to mitigate poor water
conditions downstream caused by abandoned mine discharges along the
creek. Company officials said the plant often increases the alkalinity
of the treated water to "buffer" the flow of highly acidic water
downstream.
If the Steele Shaft's discharge is removed from the creek, "you lose
the ability to mitigate the bad water downstream," Niverth said.
Removal of the discharge even with the collection system, however, also
would take away any means of mitigating bad water coming from upstream
of the plant, he said.
Duane Nichols, a chemical engineer, said he attended the meeting to
learn more about the project but believes company officials were only
"putting emphasis on aspects that are in their favor."
He noted, for instance, wastewater from the new Longview Power Plant in
Monongalia County, W.Va., for which Dana will supply the coal, and from
Longview's reverse osmosis plant will be dumped in the Shannopin mine
pool.
Charles Huguenard, general manager of Longview Power, said wastewater
from Longview and the reverse osmosis plant will go into the mine pool;
however, the amount of water is minimal and its levels of total
dissolved solids is low in relation to water in the mine and water in
Dunkard Creek.
Dana Mining President James Laurita Jr., who also attended the meeting,
said the company had studied the problem for more than a year before
developing the plan and held the meeting to get public input.
"We're open to suggestions," he said, but any suggestion "has to be
something that is a win-win for everyone."
Dana built the plant because it needed to pump water out of the
Shannopin and Humphrey mine pools to mine its Sewickley coal, he said.
At the same time, the state had to address an issue involving a
potentially damaging outbreak from the Shannopin Mine.
The company built the first plant with a $1.9 million grant and $5.2
million loan from the state. It later built a second $23 million plant,
which it privately financed, and pays about $2.5 million a year for
plant operations.
If the company were not allowed to operate the plant, as some have
proposed, the mines would have to close and eventually the state would
have to pick up the cost of treating the water, Laurita said.
He noted the company's plan also includes creation of a trust fund that
will provide perpetual treatment of Shannopin Mine water after Dana has
completed mining.
One person attending the meeting, Monongahela Township Supervisor Jim
Rumble, said he was in favor of the plan.
"It's the best that could happen with all the pollution in the creek,"
he said. "They're willing to clean up everybody else's mess (from
abandoned mine discharges downstream) so they can stay in business
themselves," he said.
Betty Wiley, president of the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, said
though the plan does not address the issue of total dissolved solids
and may result in diminished flow in the creek, it does address
abandoned mine disharges along the creek downstream that need to be
treated.
People have been complaining about the creek water and Steele Shaft,
Wiley said, and the company is taking steps to address those
complaints.