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West Virginia OKs Consol's pumping mine water, but it must have plan
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has granted Consol Energy's request to restart pumping water from its Blacksville No. 2 mine into Dunkard Creek, where those discharges contributed to degraded water quality and a massive fish kill in September.
The mining company had sought approval to resume pumping from its Blacksville No. 2 mine because water levels in the active mine have been rising and, according to Consol, will soon threaten the safety of 400 miners working underground. The company voluntarily stopped the discharges Sept. 17, during the month-long fish kill that wiped out almost all aquatic life in 43 miles of the creek along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border.
West Virginia's pumping and discharge approval, issued to Consol Friday and announced by the West Virginia DEP yesterday, is limited and conditional. It expires April 30 and requires the company to reduce chloride discharges from the mine as creek water temperatures warm to reduce chances another toxic bloom of non-native golden algae will occur.
The West Virginia DEP has blamed the algae for killing between 15,000 and 22,000 fish -- many of them large game fish -- as well as large salamanders, or "mudpuppies," and 14 species of freshwater mussels, some of them already ecologically threatened. The algae, normally found in the South and Southwest, thrives in warm, brackish water conditions fostered by the mine discharges which are high in dissolved solids and chlorides.
The order also requires Pittsburgh-based Consol to complete and submit plans for construction of one or more mine discharge treatment facilities for its mines in northern West Virginia by April 15. It must complete construction on the first of those plants, to treat discharges into Dunkard Creek, by May 31, 2013.
Joe Cerenzia, a Consol spokesman, said pumping from Blacksville No. 2 could begin by the second week of January.
Consol has 10 days to submit what the West Virginia DEP's order terms a "corrective action plan" to outline a short-term water treatment strategy that will keep its chloride discharges below the limits set in the order.
"We're working our way through the order and will adhere to its mandate," Mr. Cerenzia said. "We won't begin pumping until those details are worked out."
"So while the risk is low during the cold and wet season, we believe it is safe for the company to pump down the mine pool as much as possible," said Scott Mandirola, assistant director of the West Virginia DEP's Division of Water and Waste Management. "Once the temperatures begin to rise, more stringent limits will go into effect."
For comparison, water chemistry readings taken at the Blacksville No. 2 mine discharge Sept. 9, in the middle of the fish kill, show chloride at 6,120 milligrams per liter, the highest found anywhere on the creek that day.
Those high chloride levels prompted the West Virginia DEP to mandate that Consol build a facility or facilities capable of treating chloride and dissolved solids.
Mr. Cerenzia said the company presented several options, including reverse osmosis, a membrane filtration process that uses pressure to remove impurities.
"The state thought reverse osmosis or some new technology was the best option for us, and we agreed that made the most sense," Mr. Cerenzia said. "Will we need more than one facility? That depends on what we see in the next few months."
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09356/1022702-113.stm#ixzz0aQh7DBFX[/i]
West Virginia OKs Consol's pumping mine water, but it must have plan
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has granted Consol Energy's request to restart pumping water from its Blacksville No. 2 mine into Dunkard Creek, where those discharges contributed to degraded water quality and a massive fish kill in September.
The mining company had sought approval to resume pumping from its Blacksville No. 2 mine because water levels in the active mine have been rising and, according to Consol, will soon threaten the safety of 400 miners working underground. The company voluntarily stopped the discharges Sept. 17, during the month-long fish kill that wiped out almost all aquatic life in 43 miles of the creek along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border.
West Virginia's pumping and discharge approval, issued to Consol Friday and announced by the West Virginia DEP yesterday, is limited and conditional. It expires April 30 and requires the company to reduce chloride discharges from the mine as creek water temperatures warm to reduce chances another toxic bloom of non-native golden algae will occur.
The West Virginia DEP has blamed the algae for killing between 15,000 and 22,000 fish -- many of them large game fish -- as well as large salamanders, or "mudpuppies," and 14 species of freshwater mussels, some of them already ecologically threatened. The algae, normally found in the South and Southwest, thrives in warm, brackish water conditions fostered by the mine discharges which are high in dissolved solids and chlorides.
The order also requires Pittsburgh-based Consol to complete and submit plans for construction of one or more mine discharge treatment facilities for its mines in northern West Virginia by April 15. It must complete construction on the first of those plants, to treat discharges into Dunkard Creek, by May 31, 2013.
Joe Cerenzia, a Consol spokesman, said pumping from Blacksville No. 2 could begin by the second week of January.
Consol has 10 days to submit what the West Virginia DEP's order terms a "corrective action plan" to outline a short-term water treatment strategy that will keep its chloride discharges below the limits set in the order.
"We're working our way through the order and will adhere to its mandate," Mr. Cerenzia said. "We won't begin pumping until those details are worked out."
"So while the risk is low during the cold and wet season, we believe it is safe for the company to pump down the mine pool as much as possible," said Scott Mandirola, assistant director of the West Virginia DEP's Division of Water and Waste Management. "Once the temperatures begin to rise, more stringent limits will go into effect."
For comparison, water chemistry readings taken at the Blacksville No. 2 mine discharge Sept. 9, in the middle of the fish kill, show chloride at 6,120 milligrams per liter, the highest found anywhere on the creek that day.
Those high chloride levels prompted the West Virginia DEP to mandate that Consol build a facility or facilities capable of treating chloride and dissolved solids.
Mr. Cerenzia said the company presented several options, including reverse osmosis, a membrane filtration process that uses pressure to remove impurities.
"The state thought reverse osmosis or some new technology was the best option for us, and we agreed that made the most sense," Mr. Cerenzia said. "Will we need more than one facility? That depends on what we see in the next few months."
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09356/1022702-113.stm#ixzz0aQh7DBFX[/i]
