EPA: Dunkard Creek algae first documented case in Mid-Atlantic states
Ben Adducchio
The fish kill affected more than 160 species of fish, salamanders and mussels in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
By Ben Adducchio, WV Public Broadcasting
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October 9, 2009 · The EPA made this announcement at a water quality forum Friday in Morgantown where state and federal officials discussed data and answered questions about the fish kill.
The Environmental Protection Agency says the golden algae bloom, believed to be responsible for the Dunkard Creek fish kill, is the first documented case in the Mid-Atlantic states.
More than 50 people crowded into a small room at the Morgantown Airport, many curious to hear if officials have any new information about what caused a massive fish kill on Dunkard Creek, a stream in western Monongalia County.
The discussion focused on the creek’s high amount of total dissolved solids following the kill, water levels, and the golden algae bloom that the West Virginia DEP suspects contributed to the kill.
But the DEP is still trying to determine what caused the algae bloom.
Scott Mandirola is the acting director of the division of water and waste management for the West Virginia DEP.
“I think the important fact is that it’s here,” he said, “we need to figure out, as fast as we can,20how to deal with it, how to control it, and how to exist with it in some of our water bodies.”
The algae is known to kill aquatic life with gills in streams, and turtles over a longer period of time. One dead turtle was found at Dunkard.
State Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D-Monongalia) says this has been a horrible crisis.
“It’s just horrifying to see these pictures look at these numbers of how many fish have been killed. It’s really sad and it could have been prevented,” she said.
Local residents want to know when the stream can be remediated, and how future fish kills can be prevented.
Fleischauer thinks she can help with the prevention aspect.
She plans to reintroduce legislation that would create state regulations on water withdrawals and standardize the amount of total dissolved solids in streams in the Monongahela River basin.
“I think we need to get up to speed immediately, because there are going to be more streams in our state that are going to be devoid of fish,” she said.
Some have argued West Virginia can come up to speed by changing the DEP’s compliance schedule with Consol Energy, which operates mines in the area.
Currently, Consol has until 2013 to meet Clean Water Act standards for their acid mine discharges.
Scott Mandirola with the DEP had no specifics on whether the compliance order will be amended.
“We are going to continue with this compliance schedule, how it morphs one way or another, I couldn’t tell you,” he said.
“If we determine that that is something that needs to be changed, we will change it accordingly to protect these streams from this algae.”
The DEP is monitoring several other streams in the state with elevated TDS levels—Paw Paw Creek, Buffalo Creek, and Elk Creek, among others.