DEP: Leak Didn’t Kill Fish
Mine drainage stained Dunkard tributary red
Morgantown Dominion Post
4 April 2012
By David Beard
A mine drainage leak into a Dunkard Creek tributary Sunday did not
kill any fish, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
said Tuesday.
DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said Dana Mining Co. reported the leak
from a pumping station along Dolls Run, near Mason-Dixon Historic
Park.
A DEP inspector visited the site Monday and found the creek
stained red from the iron content of the mine water.
The inspector collected field samples and lab samples.
The lab samples are still being tested, but the field sample
showed a normal pH, posing no danger to aquatic life.
The inspector walked the 1.5 miles of Dolls Run to where it enters
Dunkard and saw many live fish, but no dead fish.
The entire stretch of Dolls Run was stained red.
There was slight reddish-orange staining on the downstream bank at
confluence with Dunkard for about 30 yards, Cosco said.
Dana was issued a notice of violation, Cosco said, for “causing
conditions not allowable” in Dolls Run.
Dana will repair the pipeline and must notify the DEP 24 hours
before it plans to resume pumping, so an inspector can be present.
Cosco said the DEP doesn’t typically require any action to address
the iron staining — the natural water flow is the best solution to
allow it to return to normal.
Betty Wiley, with the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, said
this pipeline drains a defunct Pittsburgh seam mine.
The water is transferred from one borehole to another, and then to
a treatment site before flowing into the river.
The purpose is to keep the water from rising into the Sewickley
seam that lies above the Pittsburgh mine.
Dana Vice President of Engineering Brian Osborn said the drainage
system protects the miners working in the Sewickley seam and
allows Dana to access new reserves.
Osborn said the leak did not come from a pipe, but from a fitting
on top of a borehole.
A previous contractor had used the wrong kind of steel, which
corroded and allowed a small hole to develop — a few inches wide
and about an inch high.
The contractor on site, Osborn said, discovered the leak at about
7:15 p.m. Sunday, shut the pumps off and reported the leak.
It was leaking underground and they were “just lucky to catch it.”
Osborn arrived about 20 minutes after being notified and the pumps
were already off.
Dana immediately started repairs, he said, and expects them to be
done by the end of the week.
Because of the required notice to get an inspector on site and
approve the violation abatement, they don’t expect to resume
pumping until sometime next week.
Osborn said any fine associated with the notice of violation would
be assessed at a later date.
Wiley said watershed group observers were watching the creek, saw
the staining and reported it to officials.
She visited the site herself, she said, and spoke to Osborn about
the leak.
The water is already looking better, Wiley said.