WV DEP Proposes State Water Quality Standard
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
21 May 2010
By Ben Adducchio
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection released its
plans at a public meeting Wednesday to create new water quality
standards in state streams.
It’s a victory for many who say they want to keep the state’s waterways
from being polluted and are concerned about water quality.
The proposed rule would limit levels of "total dissolved solids" (TDS)
like salt, minerals and metals dissolved in the water to the same value
standard set in nearby Pennsylvania.
That standard is 500 milligrams per liter.
These solids can get into waterways through coal mining discharges and
natural gas drilling.
Scott Mandirola is the Director of Water and Waste Management of the
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
He says levels of total dissolved solids above the proposed standard
can cause many problems.
“It can cause odor problems in water, when it gets up a certain level.
It can cause problems with water heaters,” Mandirola said.
“There’s a host of things that TDS can cause problems with as far as
human health is concerned.”
Last September, a fish kill occurred at Dunkard Creek, a stream in
Monongalia County.
The DEP pointed to a golden algae bloom as the culprit.
Environmental Protection Agency officials and the Pennsylvania DEP say
mining discharges from nearby Consol Energy coal operations created the
conditions for the algae to bloom.
Mandirola says the DEP had been considering implementing a TDS standard
before the kill.
“That added to the already compiling evidence that a TDS standard was
needed in West Virginia waters,” he said.
The fish kill stunned local members of the community.
One of them is Jesse Graham who discovered dead fish around his barn at
the beginning of the fish kill.
Graham says he’s happy a standard could be put in place soon.
“Our water is very precious. And I’m concerned there isn’t enough
concern about maintaining water quality,” he said.
“It’s getting a lot of attention, and I think that’s well-deserved.”
Betty Wiley is president of the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association.
She says a new standard in West Virginia is a victory for citizens in
the watershed.
But she says it’s only the start. If it’s implemented it has to
be enforced.
“I think everybody’s trying to do the right thing. They have to keep
doing the right thing, they can’t slip up, they can’t go backwards, and
we’ll be watching,” she said.
During the last two regular legislative sessions in Charleston, a bill
that would set a standard for total dissolved solids in West Virginia
failed to pass.
The DEP plans to issue the proposed standard for public comment in
early June.
Graham and Wiley say they both plan to submit comments on the proposal.