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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 @ 4:42 PM

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    Public Input on Water Quality Standards Accepted Until August 14

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s DEP Water Quality 

Standards Program is providing an opportunity for the public to submit 

information and data concerning the agency’s triennial review of the state’s 

water quality standards.  

In response to a request for public input discussed at a public meeting on May 

18, the DEP is offering a 45-day public comment period to allow involvement 

from West Virginia citizens.  

All correspondence will need to be received by August 14, 2009, and should be 

mailed to: 

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection

ATTN:  Water Quality Standards Program

601 57th Street S.E.

Charleston, WV 25304

Comments and information may also be e-mailed to Linda.B.Keller@wv.gov.

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To:  CLEAR members and friends...........  From: J. B. Kotcon & D. G. Nichols

The Clean Water Act requires states to review and update their water quality 

standards every three years to incorporate new scientific findings and other 

emerging issues.  WV-DEP is now taking public comment on their water quality 

standards, and this is a good opportunity to seek improvements.  

Potential rule changes might be to strengthen existing standards for specific 

pollutants, such as mercury, selenium, coliform bacteria, etc.  This would also 

be an opportunity to request standards for new pollutants such as TDS (Total 

Dissolved Solids), as was suggested in a bill introduced in the Legislature this 

year.  Such a standard would help protect water quality from discharges of brine 

and drilling fluids from gas wells, or treated or untreated acid mine drainage, 

bot of which are issues for many rivers and streams in West Virginia 

(Pennsylvania currently sets their standard at 500 ppm for TDS, but West 

Virginia does not20have a standard at all.)  Another issue is the enforcement and 

interpretation of the Anti-Degradation Policy.  DEP issued a variance to the 

policy for the Pond Lick Quarry near Elkins which allowed 100 % of the stream's 

assimilative capacity for iron and aluminum, a variance directly contrary to the 

intent of the anti-degradation policy in the rule.

The current version of the rule (47-CSR-2) is available on the WV Secretary of 

State's web page at:

http://www.wvsos.com/csrdocs/worddocs/47-02.doc 