Speakers at Antero Hearing
The Written Comment Period for the Antero Clearwater Facility Extends to September 3rd
Letter from April Keating, Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance, August 28, 2016
Antero Resources has been holding meetings for its proposed landfill and water processing facility, ironically named “Clearwater.” The 400-acre facility, a 25-year project located upstream of the Hughes River, will affect 11 wetlands and over 5 miles of streams in the area.
The WV Rivers Coalition, in its letter to the WV-DEP, states that there is no mention of a Groundwater Protection Plan in its stormwater permit, a document that must be made available to the public at all times, according to WV law. “The landfill will discharge into streams that are located within the Zone of Peripheral Concern (ZPC) for the Hughes River Water Board, which sells bulk water to Pennsboro, Harrisville, and Cairo in Ritchie County,” states the letter. The ZPC is the riparian land between a 5- and 10-hour travel time upstream of a public water supply.
The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) also does not include a section about spill prevention and response procedures, as required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activities.
The stormwater permit is not the only permit being sought for the facility. A 401 permit is required to show that the company will comply with Clean Water Act regulations.
Nine speakers spoke for almost an hour about their concerns for the project at Tuesday’s stormwater permit hearing, which took place at Doddridge County High School and was sponsored by the WV-DEP.
>> Charlotte Pritt, Mountain Party Candidate for governor, spoke about the health hazards of radiation found in frack waste, and called for a ban on fracking.
>> Lew Baker of the West Virginia Rural Water Association noted that there should be continuous monitoring at the facility, not just at the water intake.
>> Bill Hughes of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition noted that this project is experimental and should never be done on this scale.
>> Cindy Rank of the WV Highlands Conservancy mentioned the inadequacies of the permit applications, and the fact that the effects of such a project should be looked at in aggregate and not separately.
>> April Keating, of Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance, pointed out that 4,000 new wells were planned over the next 40 years, and the water supply would be adversely affected. She also noted that leaking pipelines and gas infrastructure, such as compressor stations, would affect air quality and accelerate climate change rapidly, leading to numerous effects on the environment and economy.
The WVDEP is taking comments on the stormwater permit until September 3. Comments can be submitted electronically at DEP.comments@wv.gov, or by writing to:
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Permitting Section, Division of Water and Waste Management, 601 57th Street, Charleston WV 25304
Contact: April Keating, 115 Shawnee Drive, Buckhannon, WV 26201
Internet: www.mountainlakespreservation.org
Email: apkeating@hotmail.com See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net
Point Your RSS Reader to FrackCheckWV.net/feed/
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Citizens Expressing Concern Over Local Water Quality
WV Rivers Coalition has been working with local partners in Doddridge and Ritchie Counties to educate and empower impacted communities where Antero Resources is proposing to site a large-scale fracking waste landfill. With your help we sent 160 comments to WVDEP on the Water Quality Certification and Stormwater permits. The stormwater permit comment period was extended to Sept 3. If you haven’t submitted your comments yet, you can do so here.
We are co-hosting a public meeting with Friends of the Hughes River Watershed Association on the proposed facility Sept 13 at the Women’s Club in Harrisville, WV.
Join us – more info here:
https://3ed59980-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/wvrivers/archive/anteromeeting.pdf
WV Rivers and Friends of the Hughes River
Public Meeting on Proposed Antero Landfill Project
Community Groups to Host PUBLIC MEETING on Proposed Antero Resources’ Landfill Project on September 13, 2016
Community members are encouraged to come learn about what could be changing in Ritchie and Doddridge Counties.
West Virginia Rivers Coalition and Friends of the Hughes River Watershed Association will host a community meeting concerning Antero Resources’ proposed landfill and wastewater treatment facility to be located in Ritchie and Doddridge Counties.
WHAT: Antero Landfill Community Meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, September 13 at 6:00pm
WHERE: Harrisville Women’s Club, 121 W. Main St., Harrisville WV 26362
Representatives from Antero, WV Department of Environmental Protection and consulting firm Downstream Strategies will provide information on details of the proposed project, environmental and health considerations, and permitting requirements and processes. There will be time allotted for a question and answer session.
About the proposed Antero Resources facility: The project involves the largest-scale and first of its kind facility in the Appalachian region to treat “fracking” wastewater. A landfill will be built to dispose of the salt byproduct from the wastewater treatment process.
It is proposed as a 26-year construction project on a 486-acre site spanning Ritchie and Doddridge Counties. Construction will impact 89 streams and 11 wetlands. Once active, the site will generate 1.46 billion pounds of salt and 146 million pounds of toxic sludge per year.
The proposed facility would be located within the Zone of Peripheral Concern for the Hughes River Water Board, which sells bulk water to Pennsboro, Harrisville and Cairo in Ritchie County. WV Rivers Coalition has prepared a fact sheet available here.
CONTACTS:
Angie Rosser, 304-437-1274, arosser@wvrivers.org
Vickie Nutter, friendsofthehughes@yahoo.com
Source: Jami R. Thompson, Watershed Resource Center Coordinator, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., East; Charleston, WV 25305
(304) 558-0382, (800) 682-7866 (In W.Va.)
http://www.wvca.us/wvwrc/index.cfm