DEP Issues Order to Allow CONSOL to Resume Dunkard Creek Discharge

The company plans to resume discharging from the Blacksville No. 2 mine in January 2010.

The State Journal
21 December 2009
By Jessika Lewis

MORGANTOWN -- The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has issued an order to allow CONSOL to resume discharging from the Blacksville No. 2 mine into Dunkard Creek in Monongalia County.

CONSOL halted the discharge on Sept. 17, in the midst of the investigation into what killed most of the fish and all of the mussels in the creek starting earlier that month.

The DEP ordered the energy company to monitor the discharge coming from the Blacksville No. 2 and Loveridge mines at least three times a week through April 30, 2010, the order’s end date.

Within 10 days, CONSOL must submit a plan of proposed corrective action and a compliance schedule showing its wastewater treatment strategy for both mines.

That plan will have to reduce discharge from the Loveridge mine’s St. Leo facility into the creek by 50 percent.

In addition, CONSOL will have 20 days to reroute the excess water coming from its Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) Treatment Plant, which currently discharges from the No. 2’s Outlet 005 to its Outlet 003. The company will only be allowed to discharge the wastewater from that outlet once the reconfiguration is completed.

CONSOL will have to submit a proposal for a wastewater treatment system to reduce the chlorides that will be discharged from Outlet 003 to the DEP by February 1, 2010.

By April 15, 2010, CONSOL is required to submit draft engineering details and a related compliance schedule showing the company’s plans to treat wastewater at both mines, and allowing it to meet water quality standards in the watershed by May 31, 2013.

With low water temperatures and low flow levels, the DEP believes allowing CONSOL to discharge now will not contribute to a golden algae bloom.

Investigators found that the alga, which grows in highly salty water, released a toxin that killed the creek’s wildlife.

The Environmental Protection Agency advised the DEP about how to best construct the order, and says it will continue to monitor the situation.

EPA will continue its own monitoring of the Dunkard Creek watershed, and if CONSOL is not compliant with the order, could fine the company under the Clean Water Act, according to Jon Capacasa, EPA Region 3 Director of the Water Protection Division.

CONSOL will comply with the order, said Joe Cerenzia, public relations director. The company will resolve the milestones set forth by the DEP over the next month, and plans to resume discharging in January 2010.