Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Kentucky Division of Water Officials To Monitor Levisa Fork Brine Discharge.
Representatives with the Kentucky Division of Water contacted Pike officials last week in relation to concerns about Consol Mining’s brine water discharge into the Levisa Fork.
Division of Water representatives assured Pike County Judge/Executive Wayne T. Rutherford the discharge waters, which are 12 miles upstream from the Kentucky border, would undergo weekly monitoring.
“Brine water and abandoned mine water has been a concern for some time,” Rutherford said. “Pike County Fiscal Court opposed Consol Energy’s permit. We worked with then-Attorney General Greg Stumbo and got an agreement with the Kentucky Division of Water to do weekly sampling of the Levisa Fork, with the understanding that the Kentucky Attorney General would file suit when any water quality standards are not complied with by Console. We are going to water sample and do everything to make sure fish and wildlife and drinking water is never affected.”
District 3 Magistrate Leo Murphy said the quality of the water once the discharge starts is a concern for everyone.
““We have the Attorney General on board to watch over this and we’ll be monitoring to make sure everything will be all right,” Murphy said. “What we have to live with, we have to live with. But we will stay on top of them to make sure it does not harm the waterway.”
The sampling, which will monitor water quality and algae content, would take place at both the border and also at Fishtrap Lake.
Consol obtained a permit from the state of Virginia to discharge the brine last year, but are just now set to begin. The begin date, which was set for June of last year, was delayed due to persistent drought conditions, officials said.
Tom VanArsdall, manager of the Kentucky DOW Water Quality Branch, reiterated his statements from last year as to the permit conditions.
VanArsdall said that Virginia’s water quality standards for chloride are more stringent than Kentucky’s and are adequate to assure that water quality in the Levisa Fork at the border will comply with Kentucky water quality standards for chloride if the permit conditions are met.
Also, the state of Virginia has established a biological monitoring point one mile upstream of the Virginia/Kentucky border and will share collected data with Kentucky.
In a statement last year, Teresa J. Hill, secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, said monitoring was a must, although the cabinet had received data saying no harm would come from the discharge.
“I have been assured by the state of Virginia that the water to be discharged will not harm Kentucky waterways,” Hill said. “Nonetheless, it remains prudent to conduct periodic monitoring to make sure our waters remain safe for aquatic life and as a source of drinking water.”
The brine water is a byproduct of underground coal mining. It will travel through a 19-mile pipeline to the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River where it will be released through a diffuser.
Courtesy : Office of Pike County Judge Executive Wayne T.Rutherford.
Division of Water representatives assured Pike County Judge/Executive Wayne T. Rutherford the discharge waters, which are 12 miles upstream from the Kentucky border, would undergo weekly monitoring.
“Brine water and abandoned mine water has been a concern for some time,” Rutherford said. “Pike County Fiscal Court opposed Consol Energy’s permit. We worked with then-Attorney General Greg Stumbo and got an agreement with the Kentucky Division of Water to do weekly sampling of the Levisa Fork, with the understanding that the Kentucky Attorney General would file suit when any water quality standards are not complied with by Console. We are going to water sample and do everything to make sure fish and wildlife and drinking water is never affected.”
District 3 Magistrate Leo Murphy said the quality of the water once the discharge starts is a concern for everyone.
““We have the Attorney General on board to watch over this and we’ll be monitoring to make sure everything will be all right,” Murphy said. “What we have to live with, we have to live with. But we will stay on top of them to make sure it does not harm the waterway.”
The sampling, which will monitor water quality and algae content, would take place at both the border and also at Fishtrap Lake.
Consol obtained a permit from the state of Virginia to discharge the brine last year, but are just now set to begin. The begin date, which was set for June of last year, was delayed due to persistent drought conditions, officials said.
Tom VanArsdall, manager of the Kentucky DOW Water Quality Branch, reiterated his statements from last year as to the permit conditions.
VanArsdall said that Virginia’s water quality standards for chloride are more stringent than Kentucky’s and are adequate to assure that water quality in the Levisa Fork at the border will comply with Kentucky water quality standards for chloride if the permit conditions are met.
Also, the state of Virginia has established a biological monitoring point one mile upstream of the Virginia/Kentucky border and will share collected data with Kentucky.
In a statement last year, Teresa J. Hill, secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, said monitoring was a must, although the cabinet had received data saying no harm would come from the discharge.
“I have been assured by the state of Virginia that the water to be discharged will not harm Kentucky waterways,” Hill said. “Nonetheless, it remains prudent to conduct periodic monitoring to make sure our waters remain safe for aquatic life and as a source of drinking water.”
The brine water is a byproduct of underground coal mining. It will travel through a 19-mile pipeline to the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River where it will be released through a diffuser.
Courtesy : Office of Pike County Judge Executive Wayne T.Rutherford.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 10:45 PM 
