Dam Flow Reduced to Prevent Flooding of Lower Ohio River

In response to historically high water levels on the lower Ohio River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Pittsburgh has made the decision to retain water behind its dams until flooding in Huntington, West Virginia begins to subside. As of this morning, the district reduced the dam flow from 47,000 to 10,000 cubic feet per second while using available flood storing capacity to hold excess water.

Jeff Hawk of the USACE Pittsburgh District says the water levels downstream have reached historic rates and every tenth of an inch of water downstream could be costly.

“We have one of our senior leaders down at ground zero down there and he is telling us that this is the highest water those levies have seen down there since they were constructed in the late 1920’s” Hawk says.

The Army Corps of Engineers is constantly monitoring the National Weather Service for the potential of more rain, and Hawk explains that these high water levels may take a while to subside.

“This is our wet period. The weather service tells us we’re in a pattern of storms that just keeps cycling through,” Hawk says. “Typically we start to get dryer at this point and we’re struggling at some lakes to reach what we call our summer pool. So yeah, this is unusual. If this cycle of storms continues then we’ll have to continue dealing with high water.”

Hawk says our region can handle the extra water to help those downstream, but many local recreational areas may experience flooding so visitors should call before making a trip.

The Water is on in Harrisburg

Life has returned to normal at the state Capitol, where a water main break disrupted work for most of the week.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, state workers were told to stay home, come in late or go home early, since the Capitol’s water system was down for the count. The employees who stayed had to use port-o-potties, and were told to bring their own bottled water to work.

House Democratic staffer Bob Caton estimated about 15 percent of legislative employees toughed it out. “I’m an NFL season ticket holder,” he said. “I’m used to peeing in port-o-johns. What I really felt bad for, though, there were so many school groups that were coming to the Capitol. And for these school kids, this is one of the biggest days of the year. Not only do you get out of class, but you get to see this amazing Capitol building. You get to go and do all kinds of cool tours. And those tours were kind of thrown off a little bit, and you had elementary school students waiting in long lines to use the port-o-johns at the back of the Capitol.” Many schools cancelled their tours altogether.

Release after release from the governor’s office said “nonessential workers” were being asked to leave. Who made the cut for essential? Office of Administration spokesman Dan Egan explained “essential” employees typically held health and safety-related jobs. “So for the complex, that would include Capitol police, security, building maintenance and sanitation workers. A lot of the managers had to stay on, as well. They were considered essential,” he said.

In a statement, Governor Corbett thanked state employees who worked through the hassle. “This week’s experience, while challenging, demonstrated that our contingency plans worked as designed,” he said. “Although some central offices were closed, the administration did not shut down and government operations statewide continued – just as taxpayers would expect. …Administration-wide, essential employees reported to work every day and many other employees continued to work remotely.

Harrisburg remains under a boil water advisory through Friday.

Chesapeake Stops Fracking During Investigation

Crews are still trying to stop a major fracking fluid leak at a Bradford County natural gas well.
Meantime, Chesapeake Energy is shutting down “completion operations” at its Pennsylvania sites until the company figures out what caused Tuesday’s accident. That includes all hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dan Spadoni says a Texas company called “Boots and Coots” is leading the cleanup effort.

"They have set up a mechanical system so that they can pump what’s called lost circulation material into the well to plug the leak. They would then pump heavy mud into the well, and they are hopeful the combination will effectively seal the well."

Spadoni says test results on impact of the spill are not complete, but a field check did not show any negative effect on the Susquehanna...
"We have not seen evidence of a fish kill. Obviously the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission was notified, and they have been on the scene as well."

Emergency officials initially thought they had capped the leak Wednesday evening, but Spadoni says about a gallon of fracking fluid is still leaking every minute.
Chesapeake Energy says a “limited” amount of natural gas has escaped, as well.
At least two families have been displaced by the spill.

Bradford County Commissioner on Wastewater Leak

A hydraulic fracturing fluid leak at a Bradford County gas well has been contained but not stopped. The spill lasted nearly 20 hours before it was brought under control and it is estimated that thousands of gallons of fracking fluid has been spilled.

Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith says that Marcellus Shale drilling is a state-wide issue that has a close-to-home impact.

"It points out that the drilling development does have a significant impact on communities and the environment and we need to ensure that at the state level they're taking this stuff into consideration. The fact that there's such an impact on local communities needs to be addressed."

Since the leak, Smith says that a command center has been set up in the Leroy Township Community Building to manage communications to public emergency personnel. He also mentioned that well control specialists from out of state were brought in to address the issue by building secondary containment mechanisms to prevent the leaking fluid from getting into the nearby creek.

Smith says that no liquid has leaked into the area's water to his knowledge.

Low Radiation Levels in PA Rain Water

Radioactive material from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has traveled around the world, and been detected in Pennsylvania rainwater.

State and federal officials insist the low levels of Iodine-131 don’t pose a public health threat, but nevertheless, Department of Environmental Protection inspectors spent the weekend testing drinking water. “Public water samples were taken from facilities in Norristown, East Straudsburg, Harrisburg, Williamsport, Greenville and Pittsburgh,” said Governor Corbett at a Capitol press conference. “After repeated testing throughout the weekend, results were within normal levels, in the single digits, and below the federal level. The bottom line is our public drinking water is safe.”

The radioactive element was discovered in Massachusetts, California and Washington rainwater, as well. In Pennsylvania, the Iodine-131 was 25 times below the federally-set “level of concern.” “Taking potassium iodide is absolutely unnecessary under these circumstances, and could cause harmful side effects,” Corbett said. “Although usually harmless, it can present a danger to people with allergies to iodine or shellfish, or those who have thyroid problems.” Pharmacies across the country have reported increased sales of the emergency pills since Japan’s nuclear crisis began.

An Environmental Protection Agency statement on the rainwater test reads, “While short-term elevations such as these do not raise public health concerns – and the levels seen in rainwater are expected to be relatively short in duration – the U.S. EPA has taken steps to increase the level of nationwide monitoring of precipitation, drinking water, and other potential exposure routes to continue to verify that. EPA’s only recommendation to state and local governments is to continue to coordinate closely with EPA, CDC and FDA – EPA will continue to communicate our nationwide sampling results as they come in.” Corbett said the state will stay in contact with the EPA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies, as water tests continue.

Corbett noted the radiation announcement came on the 32nd anniversary of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear accident. “The lessons we learned from that incident and the safeguards that were installed, including constant monitoring, have made us better prepared for situations like this,” he said.

Lt. Gov.: "Severance Tax is Off the Table"

A panel formed to study natural gas drilling policy for Pennsylvania has 120 days to deliver a report to Governor Tom Corbett.
The 30-member Marcellus Shale Commission will spend the next four months thinking up economic and regulatory policies to suggest to the governor. It held its first meeting in Harrisburg on Friday.

Addressing the most high-profile drilling issue, Lieutenant Governor and commission chair Jim Cawley said a severance tax is “off the table,” but noted the group will weigh the need for some sort of impact fee to address infrastructure damage. “If identifiable impacts to local government are enumerated, and there is costs that go with that, the governor has charged us with seeing ways in which we could help local governments meet those impacts,” he said.

A public comment period at the end of Friday’s meeting highlighted how divisive the drilling issue has become. Some of the speakers praised drilling’s economic impact on rural communities. Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko, a Republican, said drilling has contributed to “climate change” in his county. “The climate is, family farms are being saved. Shops – mom and pops are seeing so much prosperity that they’ve never seen before. You know, there’s the local impacts. There’s good and bad with everything, but as far as job creation, we led the state,” he said.

Nathan Sooy of Clean Water Action said drilling’s potential dangers, including water contamination, has caused environmental groups to beef up, as well. “You guys are creating jobs in my industry. There are more and more jobs to keep track of you guys. And I just wanted to let you know that,” he said. Other speakers questioned the panel’s pro-drilling makeup – a third of its members have ties to the energy industry – with one woman calling its members “cheerleaders” for extraction.

The day’s most emotional comments came from Wyoming County resident Joanne Fiorito, who told the commission drilling has “taken my American dream and ripped it apart.” “You haven’t seen the last of [me],” she said.

The commission holds its next meeting April 27th.

Council to Review Water Subsidies in New Year

The Pittsburgh City Council will hold a pair of Post Agenda meetings in January to hear from the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and the Pennsylvania American Water Company on the merits of ending the water rate subsidy for city residents served by Penn American. For more than 50 years the city has been making payments to various water companies serving areas of the city to the south and west of the Mon River. The subsidies lowered rates in those neighborhoods to equal the rates paid by city water customers. Councilman Patrick Dowd, who serves on the PWSA board, has introduced legislation in City Council to end the subsidy. “There is absolutely no reason why [a public entity] should be providing dollars to a private company,” says Dowd.

Council members whose districts are served by Penn American quickly came out against the idea saying many of their constituents cannot afford the higher rates. Dowd counters that his goal is not to raise rates, “I want to see those rates come down and I think first and foremost they should come down by the PWSA providing that water.” Dowd admits that there is no way to force Penn American Water Company to sell its system in the city to the PWSA. He says he hopes that ending the subsidy will be the first step to getting a deal done and he hopes those issues will be addressed in the hearings.

Council will hold two hearings on the bill. “We want to make sure that the company, Penn American, has an opportunity to talk unencumbered,” says Dowd, “I’m trying to be fair so I want to give them a chance to come in and say here is our story.” He says that should give council members a chance to think about all the issues involved. Pennsylvania American Water Company will go before the council January 11th at 1:30p.m. and the PWSA will go before council January 18th at 1:30p.m.

The contract between the PWSA and Pennsylvania American Water Company is up for its yearly renewal in February. Dowd says he is in favor of renewing the contract in 2011 but not in 2012. The legislation calls for the Mayor’s office to give notice to Penn American in August of 2011 that the city will not renew the contact in 2012. “We have a lot of time to think about that, we have a lot of time to talk to the private company, to talk to the PWSA, we have a lot of time to work on this. Its not like we are on a fast track here. We are trying to solve the problem long term.”

Penn American officials have said they look forward to serving the residents of the city for decades to come.

Water Director Quits

Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) executive director Michael Kenney resigned Friday ahead of a report expected to detail his personal ties to a vendor providing line insurance to PWSA customers. Kenney did not give a reason for his resignation that took effect immediately. The PWSA this year began charging customers $5 dollars a month for water and sewer line insurance. The coverage is provided by Utility Line Security of Forest Hills. Kenney once worked with the founder of Utility Line and some stakeholders in Utility Line are also associated with Utilishield, where Kenney once held an ownership interest. The monthly charge is automatically added to bills unless customers "opt out." That arrangement has received widespread criticism and prompted a lawsuit.

Stephen Simcic, a the PWSA's director of finance, and Tom Palmosina, director of water operations, were appointed by the board as co-interim directors. Simcic told DUQ that the opt out line insurance will probably not change, at least for now.....
"At this particular time, I don't expect that to happen. But I would have to tell you, there are still some ongoing discussions taking place, and until I hear more on that, I would have to hold off on final comment."

Meantime, bills will be going up for PWSA customers. The board approved a 7.7% increase in the water and sewage rate and a 2% boost in the Distribution Infrastructure Service Charge, a maintenance fee. Simcic says the rate increases are due mainly to higher overall costs.
The average residential customer will be paying $4.15 more per month.

Water Quality Drops

The quality of the drinking water in the Pittsburgh area has dropped.

The good news is that while there are rising levels of contaminants, the water is drinkable. The bad news – officials aren’t exactly sure what is causing the increase in trihalomethanes or THM’s over the past couple months.

In high quantities and over long periods of time, THM’s can cause damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority sampled The Allegheny River for bromides, which when combined with chlorine become a contaminant. Levels were unusually high.
Bromide is a naturally occurring substance in the soil. But it can come from other sources as well, says Ronald Schwartz of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

"There’s also industrial sources like coal fired power plants for example, we also find it in our mine drainage discharges, we also find it in the oil and gas wastewater, there’s a number of sources of bromide and we’re sort of finding where the higher sources may be in the region," he said.

The Allegheny County Health Department says the levels of THM’s don’t exceed health standards.

Savan Dam Deconstruction Begins on Little Mahoning Creek

Workers from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC), along with volunteers and other agencies, Monday started the demolition of Savan Dam. The dam, located in Grant Township in Indiana County, is being removed to make way for a wildlife habitat and the creek's restoration.

Nick Pinizzotto, the Associate Vice President for Watershed Conservation at WPC says after seventy years, the dam has started to crumble and deteriorate into the creek. "The dam was an unnatural impediment to the stream, the aquatics community below the dam was unable to reach areas upstream." And removing the dam would allow different aquatic life to move upstream for the first time in years, allowing for a more natural ecosystem.

The project is estimated to take a number of years. Pinizotto says after demolishing the dam they will let the creek lie fallow for a year "so that we understand how the natural channel wants to flow." Pinizotto says that after that year WPC will work with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Comission to construct habitat devices.

Audit: Customer Service Lacking at PWSA

For the first time since taking office, Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb has audited the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and found it is doing a good job of dealing with its money but not as good of a job dealing with its customers. Controller Lamb says he found very few incidents where proper bidding procedures were not followed or documentation could not be found, but he says customer service is lacking at the PWSA. Workers in his office tried to contact the authority to get questions answered or complaints taken care of as part of the audit. He points to their effort to get a billing issue taken care of via email. “We sent them and email, three months went by without a response. We sent them an email again and even to this day… they have yet to respond,” says Lamb. Lamb says what makes that situation worse is when you are waiting on the customer service phone line the message tells you to send an email to get help. Lamb says phone calls complaints were treated with only slightly better care. The executive director of the authority acknowledges the customer service problem and asked the controller to make sure that was part of his audit. PWSA Executive Director Michael Kenney says he is working with the board to improve the situation.

The audit also found that there were problems with tracking overdue bills and placing liens on properties. Lamb says that could potentially lead to money not being collected if a delinquent customers moves. He says he feels that issue will be corrected when the P-W-S-A begins using new billing software later this year.

The audit also looked at the controversial line protection insurance offered by the PWSA through a contract with a third party. Many were angered when the new program was put in place. It used an opt-out configuration rather than an opt-in configuration as had been used in the past. Others complained that the contract to offer the insurance was given to a firm with ties to the PWSA’s executive director. Lamb says his audit did not explore those issues but it did look at the quality of the line insurance compared to its price and he says city water customers are getting a good deal.

On the financial side, Lamb says the audit found a few instances where contracts were amended rather than rebid as they should have been and a few instances where bid documents could not be found. He says he does not think any of the incidences were efforts to defraud. The audit recommends that all bid documents be kept in one place in the future and that a check list of needed documents be created to make sure the record keeping is robust.

Shields Wants Cease and Desist Sent to PWSA

Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields is taking his fight with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to the next level. The authority began offering an opt-out water line insurance program this year that added a $5 charge to all customers unless they formally declined the offer. The anger grew when many of those customers learned that the insurance would not even cover their lines. Shields says city code makes “Negative Option Billing” illegal. Shields sent a letter to the City’s Law Department asking it to, “send to PWSA a cease and desist order to prevent continuation of this illegal activity.” Shields says the department has been “unresponsive to his letter” and has now has asked City Council President Darleen Harris to send a similar letter. Shields notes that city code includes a fine of as much as $500 a day per offense. “If you want to solve our pension problem, we can perhaps levy the fine against the Water and Sewer Authority and they will have to pay it, and right now it’s tallying up into the millions of dollars,” says Shields. Shields anger seems to be at least somewhat shifting from the PWSA to the Law Department. He says, “The solicitors office has been rather nonresponsive since last Wednesday on the matter. I guess they don’t have an answer, or can’t read the law.”

Whitewater Valve in Place at Quemahoning

The Cambria Somerset Authority has finished installation of the 48-inch valve under the dam that holds back the Quemahoning Reservoir. The plan is to be able to release water every other weekend from April thorough October to turn the Stonycreek River into a whitewater playground. Authority Operations Manager Earl Waddell says they will be testing the valve without water for the next few weeks and then will begin testing with water. He says before any releases are made the river will be checked to make sure there are no boaters or fishers caught unaware. The valve will be able to release up to 500 cubic feet per second when it is fully operational. Waddell says they will be able to make the releases as long at the water does not fall more than a foot below the spillway. The Authority is still waiting for final approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to allow the releases. Waddell says it will probable be next spring before they can make regular release but if all goes well there could be some whitewater releases this fall. Construction on the $865,000 project began about a year ago. Planning has been under way for more than a decade. Waddell says if you are standing under the dam the only thing you will notice is improvements to the riverbed immediately below the dam. He says it has been widened and more rock as been added to help deal with the flow.