Office of Water News Clips September 17, 2015

Coal plant contamination outlined

Outlet: Ithaca Journal Online

Coal ash sitting dormant in an unlined portion of the landfill near the Cayuga
Power Plant has been seeping into groundwater for nearly 30 years and has
flowed into nearby Milliken Creek, potentially contaminating drinking water, a
geologist said in a meeting with Tompkins County officials Wednesday
afternoon.
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2015/09/16/coal-plantcontamination-outlined/32524307/
Algae toxin levels rise slightly in Lake Erie water today

Outlet: Blade Online

Tests of the raw Lake Erie water near the city of Toledos water-intake crib
today show a very small increase in the level of algae toxins in the water
since Tuesday. The tests also show the amount of microcystin in the citys
treated drinking water remains so small that it was undetectable and the
citys water quality dashboard status remains at watch. No tests of the
citys treated drinking water this year have registered a detectable amount of
the toxin.
http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2015/09/16/Algae-toxin-levels-rise-slightlyin-Lake-Erie-water-today.html
Critics say rule will downgrade water quality in Wyoming

Outlet: Billings Gazette Online

A water quality rule change that would affect most Wyoming streams is too
sweeping and contains errors, critics of the plan told Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality representatives on Wednesday.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/critics-say-rulewill-downgrade-water-quality-in-wyoming/article_3dcb57f4-666e-535c-b204ad5d6f37136b.html
Eminent domain option for sewer line

Outlet: Cincinnati Enquirer Online, The

Holdout property owners in Camp Springs have about a month to sign
easements for sewer line construction through their lands before facing an
eminent domain court fight. Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentuckys
board approved the route for building a 20-inch diameter pressurized
underground line from Silver Grove to Alexandria via Camp Springs at
Tuesdays meeting.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/campbellcounty/2015/09/16/sdap
proves-campbellcounty-sewerpipe-tofightoverflows/32507007/
StatOil fined $223,000 over Ohio fracking-well fire
Outlet: Columbus Dispatch Online
Ohio environmental regulators will fine an international oil and gas company
about $223,000 for a blowout and fire last summer at a Monroe County
fracking well that contaminated a nearby stream, killed fish for miles and
forced about 25 people from their houses.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/16/company-finedover-well-mishap.html
Environment / Fracking; Company fined over well mishap
Outlet:

Columbus Dispatch, The

Ohio environmental regulators will fine an international oil and gas company
about $223,000 for a blowout and fire last summer at a Monroe County
fracking well that contaminated a nearby stream, killed fish for miles and
forced about 25 people from their houses.
StatOil North America, the company that operated the well, can resume
fracking there after it pays the fines, which were announced on Tuesday.
As much as $75,000 could go to first responders in eastern Ohio to help them
deal with future oil and gas emergencies.
The fines include about $41,000 for the roughly 70,000 fish that died after
chemicals ran off the well pad and into a nearby creek, and about $132,000
for contaminating the water. The fire broke out on June 28, 2014. The Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources assessed the fines.

StatOil officials did not return calls seeking comment. Teresa Mills, Ohio
organizer with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, called the fines
"a slap on the wrist."
"Not even a dollar per fish," she said. "So much for protecting wildlife."
Investigators from both Natural Resources and the Ohio EPA have been
monitoring the site of the fire and testing groundwater, nearby streams and
soil. Natural Resources spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said those tests
found no contamination, leading officials to believe it was safe for StatOil to
resume operations at the well.
Heidi Griesmer, an EPA spokeswoman, said crews also sampled water from
the Ohio River, a few miles downstream of the blowout, and tested fish and
other aquatic life for contamination. Those tests found that the water quality
at nearby Opossum Creek had declined because of the blowout, but the
stream still contains a diversity of wildlife, Griesmer said.

The blowout was one of the biggest fracking-related disasters in Ohio. The
well was being fracked for gas when a tube broke, spraying fluid onto hot
equipment. The well pad went up in flames, which spread to nearby chemical
trucks and tanks. No one was injured, but a firefighter was treated for smoke
inhalation.
California Hispanics Lag in Awareness of Drought Mandated Water
Reduction
Outlet:

El Sol de Cleveland Online

California based market research firm ThinkNow Research has just released
the results for its first ever California Latino water conservation survey. The
survey shows Hispanics in California are less aware of the Governor's drought
related water reduction mandate than non-Hispanics in the state.
http://www.elsoldecleveland.com/hispanicprwirenews/california-hispanics-lagin-awareness-of-drought-mandated-water-reduction/