By Bob Niedbala, Staff writer,
niedbala@observer-reporter.com

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency to revoke CNX Gas Co.'s permit to operate a coal bed methane brine disposal well at the closed Blacksville No. 1 Mine's Morris Run Shaft.

In an Oct. 5 letter to EPA, DEP said it suspects water from parent company Consol Energy's closed Blacksville No. 1 may be seeping into Blacksville No. 2 Mine. Activities at Blacksville No. 1 may have contributed to the fish kill on Dunkard Creek, DEP said.

Samples from water discharged into Dunkard Creek from the active Blacksville No. 2 Mine show the mine water is the "primary immediate source" of the recent fish kill in the creek, DEP said in its letter.

The high levels of total dissolved solids, sulfates and chlorides in the Blacksville No. 2 mine discharge "make the water similar to sea water and cannot support the fresh water aquatic community that previously existed in the creek." DEP said.

The levels of TDS and chlorides are higher than those typically found in mine water discharges and have created a "brackish water" that would allow golden algae to flourish in the stream.

West Virginia DEP has said it believes the golden algae and its toxins may have contributed to the fish kill.

"This would of course be in addition to the detrimental affects on aquatic life caused by high osmotic pressure associated with these TDS levels in stream," Pa. DEP said in its letter.

In another letter to Consol Energy, DEP asks the company for information on the inter-connections between the various mine pools, including Blacksville No. 1 and Blacksville No. 2, and to explain high chloride levels in the Blacksville No. 2 Mine discharge.

When asked about possible seepage of water from Blacksville No. 1 into Blacksville No. 2, Consol spokesman Thomas Hoffman said Tuesday that even if there is seepage it has had no effect on water quality in Blacksville No. 2.

Information the company has from sampling water underground at Blacksville No. 2 since before the Morris Run Shaft disposal well came into operation shows no changes in regard to chlorides, Hoffman said.

Water from Blacksville No. 2, however, is typically higher in chloride than water found in other mines, he said. The high chloride level is apparently "naturally present" in that part of the coal reserve, he said.

Hoffman also noted treated mine water from Blacksville No. 2 is placed in a holding pond referred to as the Velone Pond before being discharged into the creek, and fish in that pond did not die during the fish kill on the creek.

EPA spokesman David Sternberg said the agency is evaluating DEP's request and would respond to DEP. The agency permitted the well in 2005 for disposal of brine from the company's coal bed methane wells.

EPA on Aug. 6 issued an administrative order assessing CNX a penalty of $157,500 for allegedly failing to adequately staff and secure the well site, monitor the well's cumulative volume and report non-compliance with its permit.

It noted that between Dec. 23, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2008, no flow meter was operational at the well to measure cumulative volume and the only method of recording the volume of discharges at the well was a truck log book kept on site that not all truck drivers apparently used to record their loads.