DEP wants more info on sewage plant plans

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wants more information before it gives a green light for construction to a proposed sewage plant on Snowshoe Drive.

The Pocahontas County Public Service District (PSD) submitted a revised project plan to the DEP in June. The plan included a National Environmental Policy Act screen report to help identify potential environmental problems.

Throughout the summer, several economic stimulus projects took priority at the DEP, forcing the Pocahontas County project onto the back burner. But the DEP has worked through the backlog and is now reviewing the Snowshoe project for approval.

The DEP sent a letter to the PSD on December 7, requesting additional information on the potential environmental impact of the proposed plant.

First, the DEP requests “a clarification on the impact of the proposed treatment plant on the karst geology.”

Karst is a geologic area in which rock layers, typically limestone, have been subjected to chemical erosion, creating innumerable subsurface voids, caves and sinkholes. Large springs are typical in a karst area and the formations channel vast amounts of groundwater. Because of water flowing freely through the voids, karst is especially vulnerable to contamination.

The pervious rock formation is common in much of eastern West Virginia, including Pocahontas County.

The project site does not lie directly on the vulnerable terrain, but very close to it, according to project engineer Ken Moran, of Thrasher Engineering.

“If you’re down on the Elk or even on Big Spring Fork, right in the valley, you’re pretty much sitting on the karst,” he said. “Once you move up the mountain, the karst is still there but it’s covered with overburden.”

A number of environmental groups and outdoor sports enthusiasts strongly opposed the original plan to build the plant on karst in Slaty Fork, near the head of the Elk River. Opponents feared contamination of the fragile subsurface water system and the Elk, a very popular trout fishing river .

Responding to public pressure, the PSD selected the site on Snowshoe Drive, known as Site Seven, for the plant location.

The DEP also wants to know how much nitrogen and phosphorus the proposed plant would add to the watershed. These nutrients are known to create undesirable algae growth and other, more severe consequences in rivers.

“This [nutrient] analysis needs to quantify the impacts, if any, as a result of the project,” the letter states in part.

The DEP also requested information on how the project will affect water quality in Shavers Fork. If built as designed, the plant will divert water that currently goes to the Silver Creek sewage treatment plant and into Shavers Fork, into the Elk River watershed.

Finally, the letter requests information on “whether the site will be able to accommodate additional treatment to mitigate the potential effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products.”

Moran said the PSD sewage operations branch and Thrasher would work together to compile the information for the DEP. The engineer estimated that the data could be ready to submit by mid-January.

The DEP can decide to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact, or FONSI, which would allow the project to proceed, or require an Environmental Impact Statement, which would necessitate much more intensive study of the project’s impact on the ecosystem.

If approved by the DEP, the project will still need approval by the Public Service Commission.

PSD board member Amon Tracey told the Pocahontas County Commission on December 15 that construction on the plant could begin in January 2011, at the earliest.