Second Fish Kill Hits Dunkard Creek
DNR biologists said this time it hit the creek's north fork.
WBOY-TV
9 July 2010
By Jessika Lewis
WADESTOWN -- Another fish kill has occurred on Dunkard Creek, according
to Division of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist Frank Jernejcic.
At about 7:30 a. m. on July 1, Jernejcic received word from the West
Virginia Department of Environmental Protection that fish were dying on
the north fork of the West Virginia fork of the creek near Wadestown.
Fish were seen swimming there at about 5 p.m. the night before, said
Jernejcic.
So what happened in between that time?
Jernejcic speculated that someone must have dumped a chemical into the
water, because he and other investigators determined that the kill was
not related to mining or gas well drilling.
However, that may be hard to prove.
About 6,000 fish, made up of an estimated 12 species of minnows and
darters, died as a result of the dumping, Jernejcic described.
Jernejcic found it odd that crayfish in the water appeared to be
unaffected, and noted that when he returned to the area the following
day, there were no fish carcasses.
He surmised that the crayfish had eaten the other dead fish, and
furthered that that showed that whatever was dumped in the creek had no
effect on them.
This is the second time in the last year that investigators have looked
into fish dying in Dunkard Creek.
Starting in September 2009, environmental agencies found that fish and
mussels in the creek’s south fork were virtually eviscerated when
golden algae bloomed there and released a poison killed the fish.
The DNR will do a fisheries study in the creek soon to determine how it
can begin to revive the waterway.