Golden Algae to Blame for Dunkard Creek Fish Kill
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
25 September 2009
By Don Hopey
A bloom of toxic alien algae is being blamed for killing thousands of
fish, mussels and other forms of aquatic life in more than 30 miles of
Dunkard Creek along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border this month.
Randy Huffman, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
secretary, told West Virginia Public Broadcasting yesterday that low,
warm creek flows and high levels of chlorides and dissolved solids
combined to produce an environment conducive to the growth of golden
algae, a species of algae usually found in southern and southwestern
states.
The West Virginia DEP refused to confirm Mr. Huffman's diagnosis
yesterday but a spokeswoman said it would issue a news release about
the Dunkard Creek fish kill this morning.
Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for Consol Energy which has mines in the area,
confirmed that the company's scientists believe the golden algae, also
known as golden-brown algae, was a cause of the fish kill.
"It's difficult to say what was the cause in this situation, but we
believe it's related to the algae bloom. We still don't know why the
algae was there or what caused the bloom to occur," Mr. Hoffman said.
The golden algae is one of a large group of algae known as chrysophytes
that are usually found in hotter and desert environments and can
produce toxins that are lethal to fish and other aquatic life.
Mr. Huffman said the dissolved solid and chloride levels were high
because of discharges from a mine treatment facility at Consol Energy's
Blacksville No. 2 deep mine and a second treatment facility at Consol's
Loveridge deep mine near the West Virginia town of St. Leo.
Another contributing cause, Mr. Huffman said, could be what he
described as a discharge from a new borehole into which an unspecified
company is injecting drilling wastewater into a mine void.
But the only deep injection wastewater well in the area permitted by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the Morris Run injection
well operated by CNX Gas Co. LLP, a subsidiary of Consol Energy, at
Consol's closed Blacksville No. 1 mine in Greene County since 2005.
Consol uses the well to dispose of wastewater from its methane well
drilling operations.
Because of violations at that injection facility from September 2007 to
March 2009, CNX was fined $157,500 for violating provisions of the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act, including accepting at least 100
truckloads of wastewater with total dissolved solids levels
"significantly higher" than its federal permit allowed.
David Sternberg, an EPA spokesman, said the federal order has not been
finalized but could require a modification of the injection well's
permit. A public hearing will be held before the order is finalized but
it has not been scheduled.
Whether the Morris injection well is contributing to the bad water in
Dunkard Creek hasn't been determined by state or federal agencies.
There is a coal barrier between the Blacksville No. 1 and No. 2 mines
that should prevent seepage of water from one to the other.
Mr. Hoffman said there's no indication that any such seepage is
occurring or that the Morris injection operation is to blame, and the
violations at the Morris mine shaft have long since been corrected. He
said identification of the algae is a "breakthrough" in determining the
cause of the kill.
"A lot of people assumed it was something coming out of one of our
pipes that caused this event," Mr. Hoffman said. "But this is something
different."
Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental, watershed and sportsmen's
organizations, the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water, is calling on
the EPA to stop all gas well drilling discharges into Dunkard Creek and
require Marcellus shale gas drilling operations to document where they
are disposing of all wastewater.
Each well drilled into the Marcellus shale, a 5,000- to 8,000-foot-deep
rock formation underlying much of Pennsylvania and the northern
Appalachians, uses between 1 million and 4 million gallons of
pressurized water to fracture the rock and release the gas it contains.
One-third to one-half of that water, which contains lubricating
chemicals and contaminants picked up underground, is pushed back to the
surface by the gas and must be disposed of by the drilling companies.
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.