DNR Says No Golden Algae Found in Pond

CONSOL previously said Dunkard threatened

Morgantown Dominion Post
8 July 2011
By Alex Lang

The algae found a few weeks ago in a pond near the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border is not golden algae, an algae that led to a massive fish kill in Dunkard Creek in 2009.

Frank Jernejcic, District 1 fisheries biologist for the Division of Natural Resources, revealed the news during Thursday’s Monongahela River Recreation and Commerce Committee meeting.

“It was a real big scare, but everybody responded very quickly,” Jernejcic said.

In June, CONSOL reported to the West Virginia and Pennsylvania departments of environmental protection that it found golden algae in a privately owned pond just north of the state line. The pond’s overflow runs into Dunakrd Creek.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said it appears the scare was a false alarm. West Virginia and Pennsylvania samples did not confirm the presence of the golden algae.

She said a final resolution has not been issued because those involved want to understand why there was disagreement in the first place.

Cosco said the DEP always proceeds with caution and that is why it resampled the pond. She added that proper identification of the species of algae with microscopes can be challenging.

There have been no changes in DEP procedures as a result of the scare, Cosco said. The department will continue to use DNA-based methods, which helped lead to the determination that the algae found was misidentified.

CONSOL has monitored the Dunkard area after elevated levels of total dissolved solids caused an algae bloom that released a toxin killing most of the aquatic life in Dunkard Creek. Mine discharge from Blacksville No. 2 was the focus of that investigation.

Earlier this year, CONSOL reached a multi-million settlement with several government organizations for its alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, regarding discharges into the Mon and Ohio watershed.

The Dunkard Creek fish kill and the algae scare were discussed during the commerce committee’s meeting. The meeting was sponsored by the Upper Monongahela River Association and the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce.

The roughly 20 people in attendance passed a resolution thanking CONSOL for their prompt response to the algae scare.

The group also discussed trash along the riverbank and the economic impact of the river.

Monongalia County litter control officer Anthony Giambrone said a lot of the debris travels down the river from other places and ends up on M o r g a n - town’s banks.

Jernejcic said he spent time on the local rivers and said the worst offender is the West Fork River. He said trash can be seen up and down that river’s bank. The West Fork feeds into the Mon River.

Giambrone said he is willing to help get the word to the other counties’ solid waste authorities so they can inform people living along the riverbanks that trash that gets swept away becomes a problem for other communities.

Sports manager for the Greater Morgantown Visitors and Convention Bureau Dave Plevich highlighted some of the recent events in the area that have used the river, including the Cabela’s King Kat fishing tournament.

“There is a great asset we have in Morgantown, and it is the river,” Plevich said.