HazMat Identifies Chemical Found In Water Treatment Discharge Pipe

April 9, 2008

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Emergency personnel from Fayette County HazMat identified a substance found Monday in a pipe at the Kalp discharge site located off Route 711 as ammonium chloride.

Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny Riverkeeper for the Mountain Watershed Association (MWA), said HazMat is conducting a more detailed lab analysis to determine if any other chemicals were included in the compound initially found on top the manhole covering the pipe by officials from the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) and National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

According to Kasserman, the substance was found to cause respiratory tract and eye irritation and is typically used in welding.

Kasserman added ammonium chloride could be purchased at local hardware stores.

Beverly Braverman, Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) executive director, said BAMR and NCRS were going to clean the pipe as part of a routine maintenance when they discovered the substance.

Braverman added the substance was brought to the site.

“Someone tired to sabotage the system,” said Braverman who was at the site Friday, but didn’t notice anything suspicious.

Braverman said she immediately called Fayette Emergency Management and state police upon the discovery.

Kasserman said the filters were shut down at the site so that Stoy Excavating of Somerset could use a boring device to remove the blockage from the pipe.

The site is part of the Anna and Steve Gdosky Indian Creek Restoration project that involves the remediation of nine miles of the Indian Creek Watershed.

The MWA dedicated the $4 million project in December that earmarked the treatment of the single largest abandoned mine discharge in Indian Creek.

Braverman said BAMR and NRCS officials said the substance first looked like silicone while the containers it was in could be seen in the pipe.

While HAZMAT took the substance back to the lab to identify it, Braverman said BAMR and NRCS officials were looking for a way to shut down the system.

“Maybe they think they were just hurting us (MWA), but the potential of endangering life and limb for this community are huge,” said Braverman of the person or persons who committed the act.

If the substance had not been detected as early as it was, Braverman said it could have potentially backed up the discharge from the treatment site and filled up the mine pool.

Rich Beam of BAMR, said the discharge serves as a vertical flow wetlands system where the retention pond is used to remove metals such as iron and aluminum from the acid mine water.

Additionally, Beam said the system is designed to handle a maximum flow of about 350 gallons per minute.

Braverman said officials are still determining the extent of the damage since the Youghiogheny River serves as a tributary to the Indian Creek Watershed.