MORGANTOWN — Chemistry test results collected by Friends of the Cheat has caused the organization concern over the long-term impacts the T&T Mine event may have on aquatic life.
“We have a lot to lose now,” said FOC Executive Director Amanda Pitzer. “And we need to fight to protect that.”
In early March, rainfall and snowmelt caused 6,200 gallons per minute of highly acidic water to discharge from the former T&T Mine. The site typically treats about 4,200 gallons of water per minute and can sustain up to 7,600 gpm; however, the sudden increase led the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Muddy Creek Pipeline and T&T Treatment Plant to fail.
This allowed more than one million gallons of highly acidic water to bypass the plant over the course of the event.
Terry Fletcher, WVDEP acting communications director, said stream conditions for Muddy Creek and the Cheat River returned to normal a few days later, and the pH of Muddy Creek returned back to preferred water quality limits.
What the test results conducted by FOC may reveal
Although water quality returned to normal, Pitzer said water chemistry results recently retrieved by FOC show the discharge may have had a severe impact on the stream’s aquatic life.
Aluminum and iron are two types of metals found in acid mine drainage to which some aquatic species are highly sensitive. Pitzer said water samples collected during the discharge revealed dissolved aluminum levels reached nearly seven times more than the state water quality standard for aquatic life, and over 50 times the standard for trout.
Iron levels reached 10 times over the standard for aquatic life as well as for human recreational contact, meaning the waterway was not safe for human contact.
Downstream, dissolved aluminum levels reached almost nine times higher than the standard for aquatic life, and 74 times greater for trout. Iron was 15 times greater for aquatic life and human recreational contact. These iron conditions reached as far as three-quarters of a mile downstream.
“If this were to have just been a one-day event, I think that everyone could maybe take a deep breath and say, ‘OK, the fish could probably weather that,’ ” Pitzer said. “But this went on for several days.”
Fletcher said no impacts to wildlife have been documented and Muddy Creek is in better shape today than it has been for decades.
Pitzer said one of her main concerns is lack of communication, as the public was not made aware until several days after the discharge began. She said FOC became aware of the incident only after seeing acid mine drainage during a routine check-up March 4.
Fletcher said this delay in communication occurred because the changes seen March 1 were not alarming.
“The WVDEP noticed changes in the chemistry of the water coming out of the mine early in the week of the event,” Fletcher said. “But those changes were not alarming because changes in chemistry of water discharging from a former mine site is not uncommon.”
Due to a decrease in water quality from the mine, WVDEP modified treatment at Fickey Run by shutting off the upstream site and treating the stream with in-stream dosers.
“This is an effective treatment option under normal flow conditions and the downstream monitoring point in Muddy Creek showed the water to be within water quality standards,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher said there was no indication that flow out of the mine would increase later in the week and the decision to modify treatment had no effect on the conveyance pipe issue that occurred. He said the WVDEP became aware of the damage to the conveyance pipe March 4 and issued a statement the following day.
Moving towards prevention strategies
FOC and the WVDEP are now turning to prevention strategies rather than treating the symptoms of this type of incident.
“If we can prevent water from getting into that mine pool, we stop the chemical reaction that creates acid mine drainage before it starts,” Pitzer said. “If water continues to get into that mine pool, we’re going to produce acid mine drainage forever. That’s not an exaggeration.”
Fletcher said the WVDEP is working with the WVU Water Research Institute, experts in the public and private sectors, and FOC to identify causation and develop solutions to prevent future events. He said prevention is not guaranteed, especially since the agency cannot confirm what caused this past event.
In its newsletter, FOC outlined several action statements discussed during a meeting led by the WVDEP to discuss possible preventative measures:
- Reactivation of the piezometers, which measure liquid pressure, for measuring water levels in the mine pool and a mapping analysis to determine where additional piezometers could be installed.
- Use high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging and ground-truthing to look for potential stream loss areas in Sypolt Run (spots where surface water is disappearing through cracks in the stream bed and into the mine pool).
- Investigate the need and feasibility to treat mine pool on site with chemicals.
- Use potable water at treatment plant so both clarifiers can be operated at 100% capacity.
- Continue work to construct new sludge line to the Ruthbell mine.
- Construct an iron oxidation bed at Fickey Refuse Abandoned Mine Land site.
- Increase the frequency of line jetting.
- Share emergency Standard Operating Procedure with FOC.
Water quality has given the WVDEP and FOC a snapshot into how aquatic life may have been impacted. Until researchers are able to survey firsthand now and in the fall which species remain in the stream, it is impossible to know what was affected.
“If I go out and I dip my cup in the water, that’s only going to tell me what’s happening in the water at that moment,” Pitzer said. “When we are able to go out and see the bugs and the fish — they have to live there, so they give you a more holistic view of long-term what’s been happening in that river stream.”
Real-time updates on Muddy Creek water quality from the Friends of the Cheat monitoring station can be found at www.cheat.org/our-work/muddy-creek-gauge-live-data-stream/.
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