Monitoring River Water

http://www.wbng.com/news/local/Monitoring-River-Water-111551409.html

Monitoring River Water

By WBNG News
December 8, 2010

Apalachin, NY (WBNG Binghamton) When some Pennsylvania residents began to claim that horizontal gas drilling contaminated drinking water, many were asked to provide a pre-drilling water test to show the difference. River water will now undergo a similar test.

Ten of these monitoring sensors will be installed along tributaries to the Susquehanna River in the Southern Tier. They will measure basic information about water quality.

That includes “temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH,” said Kimberly Dille with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. “We’re measuring at a five-minute interval.”

If and when horizontal gas drilling moves forward in New York, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission wants to know the condition of the water ahead of time, in case an accident contaminates the water.

“If any deviations would occur that would depart from normal ranges, an alert is sent to our office where staff would immediately know if there was a change of condition,” said the SRBC’s Andrew Gavin.

“There are certain conditions in local streams that might even be natural for an area,” said Susan Obleski of the SRBC. “If people see spikes in certain chemicals they may not realize that that tends to happen naturally certain times of the year.”

The SRBC has been working with the Tioga County Planning Department on finding locations for sensors on the Apalachin and Catatonk Creeks.

“We’ve always know that monitoring water quality — both getting a baseline before drilling, during drilling and after drilling was very important to our drinking water,” said Elaine Jardine, Tioga Co. Planning Director.

The SRBC will install ten monitors in New York. It already has thirty in Pennsylvania.

After a monitoring station is installed, anyone can check water conditions at SRBC.net.