Studying Quality of Water No Waste:

State’s decision to begin monitoring Mon River for drilling’s effect vital

Morgantown Dominion Post - Editorial
15 April 2009

The Monongahela River’s name is commonly mangled in pronunciation and spelling and some say it flows backwards, but that’s the least of indignities the waterway suffers.

Although the river’s commercial and recreational potential were tapped at the fourth annual Monongahela River Summit on Monday, in Morgantown, its water quality has stirred up a flood of concerns.

Never mind that one of the state’s top fisheries biologists says the river is a lot cleaner now than in the not too distant past. Two major bass tourneys are scheduled on the river this summer. And even though some believe its commercial value still has not gone mainstream, the Wharf District and the numbers of barges and tugs on the river are clearly a result of its wake. But for many at the summit, the potential threat of a new form of pollution is not just water under the bridge — and the state has taken notice.

A representative from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced at the summit that the state is preparing to install four real-time monitors along the Monongahela to detect salty wastewater from gas-well drilling.

The wastewater is a byproduct of drillers breaking apart rock thousands of feet underground to reach natural gas deposits locked away in deep Marcellus shale formations.

The drillers then dispose of the wastewater by dumping it into temporary holding ponds and later into waterways. Last fall, water treatment plants in Pennsylvania were unable to clean the wastewater properly, and thousands of people were treated to smelly water.

The state’s monitors will determine the levels of total dissolved solids, which are not currently regulated in West Virginia. This monitoring system may serve as a guide to discuss and adopt possible standards later this year.

Another 15 monitors will also probably be installed elsewhere along the river’s main stem and a number of its tributaries.

In another sign the state is wading into this issue, the Division of Natural Resources will also initiate a fish monitoring program on the river in May.

The DEP is also seeking comments for proposed guidelines for Marcellus shale drilling that would require operators to report where they plan to draw water and how they will dispose of it. Such regulations will require legislative approval.

For now, drillers are only required to report water use after the fact, and if their withdrawal is more than 750,000 gallons of water in a given month.

We urge the state to continue studying this issue and introduce regulations — this year — that not only protect the Monongahela’s quality and its vitality to our regional economy, but make waves if necessary.