OAK HILL — Since 1999, a number of reports aimed at protecting the water in the Page-Kincaid Public Service District (PSD) were compiled and made publicly available by the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health’s Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) Program.

Open Fork No. 2, an approved surface mine permit currently being appealed before the Surface Mine Board by citizens of Fayette County, encroaches on the Source Water Protection Area (SWPA) around the wellheads of the PSD.

The employee reviewing the permit, Tina White, was not aware of the overlap between the SWPA and the mining operation, according to White’s own testimony at the July 12 appeal hearing.

The PSD’s SWPA designation was considered, however, in the review process for another Frasure Creek Mining permit application in the area in 2006.

“The reviewer for the Open Fork No. 2 application was different from the earlier application and was not aware of the SWPA,” said Keith Porterfield, mining director of the Region 3 Field Office in Oak Hill.

A Source Water Protection Area (SWPA), as established by the Safe Drinking Water Act, is an area around a well that likely contributes water to that well, and where protection activities should be focused.

In 1999, the SWAP program delineated an area around the Page-Kincaid PSD wellheads that fell under that criteria.

It is unclear why the SWPA designation was not considered in the Open Fork No. 2 permitting process, since the information was freely available.

William Toomey, program manager of the SWAP program, said “The DHHR hosts a password-protected website that agencies and private citizens can gain access to without charge and has provided the DEP office with digital copies of the SWPAs.”

When asked whether there was a system in place at the DEP to alert permit reviewers to the SWPA boundaries, Porterfield responded, “The applicant is required to list all groundwater users within 1 half-mile of the permit boundary.”

The Page-Kincaid PSD wellheads are located within the half-mile blasting zone of the proposed surface mine.

Both Toomey and Porterfield agreed that the SWPA designation and assessment should be considered in the permitting process, but Porterfield maintains that “the protections established in the Open Fork No. 2 permit protect the SWPA as well as other ground water users in the area.”

It was only after a citizen of Fayette County discovered the overlap between the SWPA and the permit that the SWAP program and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection became aware of the situation. SWAP then conducted a review, producing a final report on the potential impact on ground water from the proposed surface mine.

The report was based on a visit to the PSD, a hydrogeologic evaluation from 1979, a site visit to the mining operation with DEP representatives, and several other sources.

It recommended increasing the number of ground water monitoring stations in the area and stated that Frasure Creek Mining “should provide for the analysis of raw water samples from Page Kincaid PSD source wells on a periodic, long-term basis” and “establish a surface water sample station downstream of the confluence of Loop Creek with Glenco Hollow.”

However, it’s too late for these recommendations to be weighed in the permitting process, since the permit was already approved.

The report also noted that determining the potential impact of the mining on how water moves downward from surface to ground water is “problematic,” and that how much of the water at the PSD comes from the area impacted by the mine is “beyond the scope of this review.” Further, it said that distinguishing between past mining impacts and current impacts is difficult.

A general improvement in surface water quality in Glenco Hollow was noted when comparing samples from 1991-1992 and 2008-2009.

Another report funded by the DHHR in June 2010 lists surface mining near the PSD as a potential contaminant source of “highest priority.”

The report explains that “While there is no evidence that blasting from nearby mines has affected the wells negatively, there is a potential for impact if blasting occurs too closely to the wells.”

Among the strategies it outlines to protect the PSD from future contamination is the directive to “Provide WVDEP with the SWPA delineation mapping to ensure these areas are considered during permitting for new mining activities.”

Levi Rose, the Fayetteville resident who initiated the SWPA review this past spring, said there’s not enough information to support sound conclusions about whether the PSD will be affected by surface mining.

“What makes it complex is that nobody knows how that rock is fractured and where the water will flow. And nobody knows the size of the aquifer right now. To know where all the impacts could be coming from is very hard to analyze. And when you involve blasting, you’re just opening the door for new fractures,” says Rose.

“It kind of reinforces the whole point of appealing this on the grounds that they haven’t done enough analysis,” he says.

— E-mail: cmoore@register-herald.com