>>ANNOUNCER: Promoting a healthy environment... it's the air we breathe... clean
safe water.. responsible management of our natural resources...
we protect and restore
for a sustainable future. Environment matters...
>>NARRATION: it's the largest stream restoration initiative ever undertaken in the state
of West Virginia
and as the project nears completion it's already produced positive results throughout the entire
watershed. Plus: >>Mike Whiteside: it shows people that
that there's an alternative waste stream. Instead of throwing it away
or throwing it in a barn and letting and letting it rot
that there's a there's a public out there that's looking for this kind of stuff
>>NARRATION: We'll meet the stars that the popular DIY Network TV show "Salvage Dawgs"
Mike Whiteside and Robert Kulp, co-owners of Black Dog Salvage
a business specializing in architectural salvage spoke recently at the West
Virginia solid waste conference
>>GREG ADOLFSON: hello everybody and welcome to another edition
Environment Matters. I'm Greg Adolfson with the West Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection
but first, work at the Freedom Industries spill site
has entered a new phase. The last of the remaining above-ground storage tanks
have been
removed from the site. Those remaining tanks had been
used to store potentially contaminated groundwater
and stormwater runoff from the site but were replaced by double walled Baker tanks.
Tank demolition at the site began in July
in all 14 steel above ground tanks including tank 396 which leaked
the chemicals MCHM and PPH into the Elk River
last January have now been removed from the site. When the remediation work
begins at the site a new science-based method for testing the levels of MCHM
in the air will be in place. The DEP's Sarah Sharp joins us now
with more. >>SARAH SHARP: Greg, the US EPA recently finalized its
testing method, and at the request to the DEP, begin taking baseline samples in and
around the freedom spill site
>>AMY DUBOIS: this is our sampling pump so we can program the pump for the desired
time frame. we can set a delayed start so the ones we're setting out today
will have one start, run for 12 hours -- at the end of that
a new pump will start and continue running for 12 hours so
at every location, we're setting up one pair of pumps.
>>NARRATION: the EPA set up its sampling equipment at eight different locations along the
outer fence line at the site
and several nearby locations. each sample was collected over a 24-hour period
while the site was undisturbed and then taken to an EPA mobile lab
here in Kanawha County for analysis. the results will be used to establish a
baseline level for airborne
MCHM. the EPA has also developed a recommended short term inhalation
screening level for MCHM of
10 parts per billion. the EPA defines short term
as repeated exposure for at least 24 hours and up to 30 days
>>Melissa Linden: it's an additional tool that we're able to provide West Virginia DEP
during their remediation process to inform
decisions on any oversight
or changes that they may see necessary during
the process for the cleanup and just allowing them to have additional data
and information
for their decision-making and then
we'll be able to consult with them and assist as requested
>>NARRATION: based on the results of these tests, the DEP could require the environmental
contractor handling remediation
make adjustments to how the cleanup work is done to minimize potential impact
>>KELLEY GILLENWATER: there is a potential
obviously when you are dealing with the contaminated soil that some particles
could become airborne and
get into the air and you could smell that's so basically by having
this air monitoring
technology, we can use that data to possibly adjust how the remediation
work is done
to help lessen the impacts based on the levels
we could change the scope of the work we can work around certain weather
conditions for example when there
is high humidity, basically stagnant air
that doesn't allow the materials to disperse
or we could put up additional barriers or fencing to help kinda mitigate
any potential impacts from the MCHM in the air. >>SARAH SHARP: the air sampling data can also be
added to future MCHM studies.
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has nominated in MCHM for
further research for the National Toxicology Program.
following the January spill, the West Virginia legislature took action to
require
owners of above-ground storage tanks to register their tanks with the West
Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection. so far
roughly 50,000 tank registrations have been submitted.
the deadline for submissions was October 1st but the DEP continues to work with
tank owners who are making a good-faith effort to comply with the law.
information from the tank registrations will allow the DEP to develop a
risk-based assessment
that the agency will use to determine where the biggest threats to public health
and the environment are located. the program also requires tanker owners to
submit spill prevention response plans to the DEP --
those are due by December 3rd --as well as tank inspection certificates
which are due on January 1st. Greg, the specific requirements for each
risk classification tank are laid out a draft interpretive rule.
that rule is available for viewing on our website along with links for
frequently asked questions about the law,
forms, contacts and other helpful information. you can find a DEP
.WV.gov. For environment matters, I'm Sarah Sharp.
>>GREG ADOLFSON: Thanks, Sarah. Like it or not,
winter will be here before you know it but cold temperatures
won't be a problem for students and four mercer county schools.
that's thanks to a two million dollar boiler upgrades project funded in part by the DEP
but having warmer classrooms isn't the only benefit as the DEP's
Brianna Hickman found out...
NARRATION: inside a little smoke on the water
but outside there's no smoke from the chimney at Montcalm high school
that's thanks to this new high-efficiency boiler
that's used to keep the school. Montcalm along with Spanishburg
and Lashmeat/Matoka elementary schools and the Mercer County Technical
Education Center
all got new boiler systems over the summer and not a moment too soon
>>MARK PAGE: It was different things in the old system. it would break down just
various... the auger
that wouldn't be the coal in broke down numerous times and then we
have to try to get a custodian down there to keep it going on and it would
breakdown at night and so it was just very inconsistent
there were days -- there's times that we never had any heat in the gym
for week's at a time it would probably get down into the
fifties in the gym and you can't have kids dressing out for phys ed
in a day like that so it would be a very
very cold very uncomfortable at times >>NARRATION: the project cost
just over two million dollars with the DEP providing a significant chunk of the
funding
>>FRED DURHAM: we were able to leverage some money from the
United States Environmental Protection Agency
over three-quarters of a million dollars that we're able to bring to the table
and we asked the school board to identify schools that might
have other infrastructure issues like these older boilers
and by installing the new boiler, not not only do you solve a maintenance issue
and solve the
the reliability issue but you also improve the air quality
by lowering the emissions
from the new boilers. >>NARRATION: the new boilers run on natural gas
and replace coal-fired boilers that were between 30 and 60 years old
>>FRED DURHAM: not only are they more efficient but they have special technology
that lowers the amount of nitrogen oxides that they emit
and what that does is it decreases the ozone pollution at ground level ozone
that would normally be formed from the emissions
>>NARRATION: altogether, the new system will eliminate about 104 tons
of pollution over the course and just one heating season
multiply that by the expected service life on the new units
and it adds up to significantly less air pollution...
"three... two... one... (cheers)
>>MARK: It means a lot more comfort for our students. We've had
tremendous problems over the last couple years keeping them
the furnace - keeping heat in the building, keeping it consistent
so we're looking forward to having a much more comfortable
school year specially during the wintertime and, you know, comfort
makes it easier in a classroom. lets them concentrate on what you're doing
so we're looking forward to this >>NARRATION: providing a more reliable
comfortable and healthier environment for students and staff alike
and one that will have everyone breathing easier for years to come
in Mercer County I'm Brianna Hickman for environment matters
>>GREG ADOLFSON: additional funding for the project was provided through
a $1 million dollar grant from the West Virginia school building
authority and more than three hundred and eighteen thousand dollars
from the Mercer County Board of Education. Harrison County becomes the latest West
Virginia County to take advantage of the DEP's
e3 program. E3 stands for economy energy and the environment
and was created by the white house counsel on Environmental Quality
the state program helps local governments
and industrial facilities operate more efficiently
through the use a free services like energy audits. this is a video from an assessment last
year at a facility
in Wood County conducted by the West Virginia University industrial
assessment center. the goal of the program is to promote economic growth, job creation
and environmental and energy sustainability. coming up
>>RANDY HUFFMAN: prior to this project this was just like a long skinny lake
>>NARRATION: but it's a different story today, thanks to a massive stream restoration project
that's not only improving aquatic habitat
its improved recreational opportunities and the
economic development that comes with it..plus
>>GIRL: I love it it's really
learning and fun.
>>NARRATION: We'll check out this year's youth environmental conference where
participants traveled from the edge of space
to a journey through the past. those stories and more
when environment matters continues.