Another scientist's analysis of the creek water indicated most of the TDS probably came from discharges at the Blacksville No. 2 mine and two other mines. The West Virginia Water Research Institute has been sampling water about 20 miles downstream from the fish kill since shortly before the incident. It showed high levels of TDS associated with mine water, containing sulfates, and low levels of TDS associated with gas waste, dominated by chlorides.
"The water signature is dominated by sulfates," said Paul Ziemkiewicz, the director of the National Research Center for Coal & Energy at West Virginia University.
EPA took early readings upstream of the fish kill that showed a high concentration of gas-associated TDS, but Ziemkiewicz said it was so diluted by the time it reached the WRI monitoring station that it barely registered.
'Glaring weakness'
Whether from coal mining or gas drilling, Reynolds got resistance from Consol on the idea of new regulations for TDS. After a meeting with Consol officials and West Virginia environmental officials, Reynolds expressed frustration.
"It would be like the surgeon general inviting Marlboro to the table to lead a discussion on smoking as a cause of cancer," he wrote. "I learned nothing new in two days except how hard Consol will fight to keep TDS from being regulated."
He later sent "toned down" comments to meeting organizers.
EPA officials consciously shied away from naming any particular culprit early on, particularly natural gas. Instead, they explained that high TDS had caused an algae bloom, without going into what caused the TDS spike or the bloom.
Emails show that naming a culprit for the fish kill was a sensitive subject. One staffer called the omission of a reason in an EPA news release a "glaring weakness." But an agency lawyer said the wording needed to be vague.
"Sorry, David, but straight assertions on how the TDS got there gets closer and closer to our enforcement action, on which we are still working," EPA attorney Nina Rivera said in a reply. "We can say that we are looking at the discharges into the creek, but I'm not ready to point fingers."
Reynolds' November 2009 report that obliquely cited coal mine drainage was the last public statement on the Dunkard Creek fish kill before the settlement in March.
In March, Pennsylvania authorities arrested a local waste hauler, Allan Shipman, whose trucks were contracted to dispose of flowback brine from gas companies.
The allegations against Shipman, laid out in a grand jury presentment, say he improperly disposed of brine in tributaries of Dunkard Creek. But the specifics of the charges do not include anything that occurred upstream of the fish kill.
Click here to see the EPA emails.
Reprinted from Greenwire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
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6 Comments
Add Comment"The allegations against Shipman, laid out in a grand jury presentment, say he improperly disposed of brine in tributaries of Dunkard Creek. But the specifics of the charges do not include anything that occurred upstream of the fish kill."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAfter three pages of may's, and maybe's, the last paragraph negates the entire previous majority of the article, (salt water is deadly to fresh water fish) and the coal mine ends up being extorted by the EPA, rather than fight. End result is, we, the customers, will get the bill.
If advocating alarmism has become necessary to stifle the compromise of our fundamental life support systems...then U.S. energy independence is secondary to ecological protection. We have our Sun and we have a multitude of great minds ready to apply sustainable technologies that will free all nations from any dependence on any other nation. This is where we must go. We will survive without the use of antiquated fuels...yet we will not survive without intact ecosystems and the water contained therein.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree completely. Salt water from fracking is deadly to fish so I don't see how the mines could be the issue unless the frackers were sending the flowback to the mine retaining pools and the mines released it into the stream.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt seems that some of those commenting (and some people at EPA) are really unfamiliar with coal mining, gas drilling, and the setting of Dunkard Creek. The TDS components can come from mining and gas, but also from other sources. For instance, water in the coal being mined is saltier that ocean water just a short distance away at the same depth. As dry as the area was at the time, the mine drainage could easily have been salty enough to account for that component in the creek water.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(advocate for alarmist on anything related to the US being energy independent.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat's not true. Someone has to be paying you to make these silly comments, what other reason could it be?
Why do you have a problem with drilling clean, smart energy, or cleaner healthy environment?
No, you want to type up a bunch of low-cost, fake numbers that don't include clean-up of the toxins left behind.
Why don't you include the total cost of nukes, waste storage, and enrichment?
Because you can't! It would make clean energy cheap by comparison.
The kids have a saying about talking....I'm sure you've heard it.
You can poison something to the point that it can't never recover.
What kind of a person thinks like that?
The e-mail are just talk. No water data is included.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere's the water tests reports?
I know for a fact that small changes that can make a fish tank stink rotten eggs. Duckweed will help clean the water only if you have enough (in my case) Goldfish to eat it. Other wise it will over grow the tank and kill the fish. Duckweed loves dirty water.
We lost power for 5 days in New England after an October snow storm,
I tried duckweed to help the water, lucky for me my fish ate most of it. My friend feeds her chickens dried Duckweed form her pond and they all enjoy it. I sure if it's controlled, it can be put to good use. There's interesting studies on it. Duckweed does not like salt! So, it's not salt.