Tag: ORSANCO

W.Va. Governor: Public Not In Danger From Train Chemicals

Speaking during his regular briefing Thursday, the governor offered an update on the chemical spill from a freight train that derailed near East Palestine, Ohio nearly two weeks ago.

As a plume of chemicals slowly makes its way down the Ohio River, Gov. Jim Justice said “thus far” there is no danger to public drinking water supplies. 

Speaking during his regular briefing Thursday, the governor offered an update on the chemical spill from a freight train that derailed near East Palestine, Ohio nearly two weeks ago.

Justice said the Emergency Management Division (EMD), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and the West Virginia National Guard are “on top” of the situation.

Scott Mandirola, deputy cabinet secretary for the DEP said his agency is coordinating with the Ohio River Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as it monitors the water quality of the Ohio River.

Mandirola said samples of water collected Wednesday along the Ohio River from Ravenswood to Parkersburg show low concentrations of the chemical butyl acrylate, below three parts per billion. 

“These preliminary monitoring results are still well below the provisional health guidance values issued by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is 560 parts per billion for drinking water and continuing to decrease as the plume travels downstream,” he said. 

He said the Greater Cincinnati Water Works is running confirmation samples to quantify concentrations. 

Mandirola said the plume is estimated to reach the Huntington area by late Friday or early Saturday morning.

“The leading edge of the plume is estimated to be near mile marker 264 today on the Ohio River which is near Point Pleasant, and the mouth of the Kanawha River,” he said. 

He said the influx of water from the Kanawha River and current rainfall will further help to dilute the plume as it makes its way downstream.

The DEP has air monitoring stations in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Mandirola said, so far, there have been no effects to air quality stemming from the derailment. 

The U.S. EPA meanwhile continues to conduct air monitoring around the perimeter of the crash site in Ohio. Mandirola said they have not detected any concentrations of contaminants above health advisory levels. 

“We know that the public is rightly concerned about this issue,” said Commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health Matt Christianson. 

He said his department has been cooperating with all of its state partners as it closely monitors the situation.

“DHHR and the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health have worked very closely with water companies as we learned of this spill and of this potential contamination and have offered guidance to those water companies as this plume has passed,” Christianson said.

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced that she fully expects the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington to hold hearings on the Ohio train derailment.

Ohio River Sweep Being Held In Smaller Groups Due To COVID

The Ohio River Sweep annual volunteer cleanup is changing this year as a result of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Large numbers of volunteers usually participate in the event, so organizers have introduced “Mini-Sweeps.”

Participants in West Virginia choose the date and location, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission will provide support and supplies for a socially distanced cleanup event, officials said.

Events can be held between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31 in small groups to allow for social distancing, the Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release.

ORSANCO has partnered with environmental protection agencies in West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania since 1989 on the Ohio River Sweep. The effort extends the entire length of the river with volunteers from the six states bordering the river removing litter.

Volunteers who want to participate can email DEPwvmis@wv.gov or call (800) 322-5530 to plan their cleanup and arrange for supplies, the release said.

At Public Hearing, ORSANCO Asked To Do More To Protect Ohio River

A multi-state commission charged with protecting the Ohio River heard testimony Monday evening in Pittsburgh that it should do more, not less to protect water quality.

 

In the first of three public hearings, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, or ORSANCO, heard from more than a dozen people about proposed changes to the commission’s pollution control standards for industrial and municipal wastewater discharges into the river.

This round of public comments is the latest in a multi-year effort to update the commission’s pollution control standards for the Ohio River.

 

After thousands weighed in against it, ORSANCO in February scrapped an industry-backed proposal that would have eliminated its pollution control standards.

 

A new proposal keeps the standards, but makes adoption by ORSANCO’s eight member states optional. The proposal would require each state to provide the commission with time to comment on draft discharge permits issued along the Ohio River.

 

ORSANCO Director Richard Harrison said the new proposal balances the need by states for flexibility while being cognizant of the feedback received by the public largely in favor of the commission maintaining a role in pollution monitoring.

 

“It’s recognizing that states need flexibility to use alternative criteria,” Harrison said. “However, they need to make sure, working together collaboratively, that the discharges are not causing harm to the protected, designated uses of the river. So, it’s really making sure the end result of a discharge is not harmful to the use of the river.”

 

More than a dozen people testified that ORSANCO should make adoption of the standards mandatory and should increase its pollution monitoring.

 

“We should be discussing ways to increase the pollution controls’ efficacy, not reduce its power and provide obvious holes for states to lower their own standards to create a race to the bottom in order to attract industry,” said Joshua Eisenfeld with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services.

 

Many of those who spoke expressed concern that the region’s growing petrochemical infrastructure linked to the shale gas resources in the Marcellus and Utica would negatively impact the Ohio River’s water quality.

 

The river, a drinking water source for 5 million people, was designated the most polluted river in the United States by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2015.

 

Michele Fetting, program manager for the Pittsburgh-based BREATHE Project, urged ORSANCO to not only mandate state adoption of the pollution control standards, but expand pollution monitoring to consider pollutants from the oil and gas and petrochemical industries.

 

“It is critical that these are included in its pollution control standards,” she said. “We will never know the full impact of new and future pollution activities if we are not testing for contaminants from these industries.”

 

The proposal would require each state to provide the commission time to comment on draft discharge permits issued along the Ohio River.

 

Some expressed concerns that by making ORSANCO’s pollution control standards discretionary, it will fall on the commission to ensure permits are demonstrating equivalency using state-by-state criteria.

 

Robin Blakeman, with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said ORSANCO needs to provide transparency and accountability.

 

“It is important that ORSANCO establish baseline, uniform reference discharge standards and mechanisms for holding states accountable,” she said. “Although ORSANCO’s role will not change in developing standards, all member states should be strongly advised that these standards represent the best means of maintaining the designated uses of the river.”

 

ORSANCO is holding two more public hearings, one in Evansville, Indiana on April 4, and the other in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 8. The commission is accepting public comment through April 15. 

ORSANCO Punts on Decision to Eliminate Water Quality Standards for the Ohio River

A multi-state commission charged with protecting the Ohio River decided Thursday to postpone a decision to dramatically alter pollution controls.

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, or ORSANCO, has been considering a proposal that would reduce its oversight of water pollution control standards along the Ohio River. The proposal, called “option 2” would eliminate the body’s water pollution control standards for industrial and municipal wastewater discharges into the river.

The eight state body was created before the passage of the Clean Water Act, with a mission to collaboratively protect the river and set limits on industrial pollution through water quality standards. ORSANCO Director Richard Harrison said the new proposal is about balancing where to put the body’s limited resources.

“This review was really about determining what is the proper role for ORSANCO going forward,” he said. “Is it in pollution control standards? Or is it in other areas such as scientific research.”

The commission argues that water pollution control standards set by member states will protect water quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide adequate oversight.

“The pollution control standards of the commission actually represent a third layer of standards for the Ohio River,” Harrison said. “Each member state has criteria and it’s actually the member states that implement standards through their permitting program.”

The commission was expected to vote Thursday on the proposal, but the committee tasked with making recommendations to the commission said it needed more time. Harrison said thousands of people have weighed in on the proposal.

“Really the amount of comment is the reason the committee is taking some more time to deliberate and really make sure we continue our thorough review,” he added.

Conservation groups cheered the decision. Robin Blakeman, with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, said the proposal, if passed as is, will diminish the river’s water quality. That could affect ecosystems and jeopardize the river, which is a source of drinking water for 5 million people.

“Essentially they backed away from making a decision at this meeting and they say they’re going to engage in further dialogue with those of us in the environmental communities,” she said. “So, we’re very glad for that.”

ORSANCO is next scheduled to meet in February in Covington, KY. Harrison said the committee could provide a recommendation at any time, and at this time there are no additional public hearings on the proposal scheduled.

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