Drinking water from Monongahela deemed safe despite pollutants

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Drinking water from Mon deemed safe

“but scientists monitoring the water are noting early evidence that chemicals from Marcellus shale gas drilling are contributing to the recent problems”

By Tim Puko
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 7, 2010

Drinking water from the Monongahela River could taste acidic, smell funny and stain dishware during at least the next week.

According to state and federal data, the Mon — which 750,000 Pennsylvanians rely on for drinking water — has a high quantity of a secondary pollutant that makes it a mild saltwater. Though less pleasant to taste, it is not a health hazard to drink.

Only rain — an influx of fresh water — can fully dilute the pollutants in the river, said Werner Loehlein, chief of water management at the Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District.

No significant rain, however, is forecast before Thursday — at the earliest. And the river level is nearly 50 percent lower now than its average low, said Daniel Jones, a corps spokesman.

“Without any precipitation, that is a reasonable assumption that the levels would increase. We’re going to remain vigilant in our sampling,” said Katherine Gresh, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s local office. “We’re in the very beginning stages of any kind of trend.”

The department began taking more samples along the river and its tributaries when high contamination levels were first reported near Clairton about three weeks ago, Gresh said. Indicators of pollution have climbed about 30 percent since July 24 at the U.S. Geological Survey’s river monitor in Elizabeth.

This marks the third consecutive year that pollution has climbed during the late summer, when river levels are lowest. Acid-mine drainage has always been a problem in the Monongahela, but scientists monitoring the water are noting early evidence that chemicals from Marcellus shale gas drilling are contributing to the recent problems.

Because of the expanding gas industry, Washington-based American Rivers ranked the Monongahela as the ninth-most endangered river in the country this year.