By Esteban Fernandez
For Times West Virginian
Rivesville — Mon Power recently detected arsenic in the groundwater by a coal ash landfill in Rivesville.
The company held a town hall meeting at the Rivesville Community Center Wednesday evening. Representatives from Mon Power parent company First Energy and Civil and Environmental Consultants did their best to allay residents’ concerns while explaining their findings about the ash pile.
“My reaction is, if they’re not testing my land, how do they know that there’s not arsenic in my land?” Kari Reesman, Rivesville resident, said. “I have animals that drink from the mud puddles. It’s natural, they’re going to whether they have a freshwater supply or not, which, we do provide constantly. But how do I know that they’re not being contaminated?”
Mon Power has been routinely monitoring ground water around the ash pile. One of the wells used for monitoring, MW-106, detected arsenic at a 0.096 micrograms per liter. The groundwater standard is 0.01 mg/L, any amount above that triggers a groundwater assessment, according to Jay Newbaker, First Energy Environmental Department senior scientist. Should the need arise, it can also trigger additional corrective measures.
Mark Orzechowski, a geologist at Civil and Environmental Consultants, said it was the highest concentration recorded over the past few wells. Other monitoring wells at the site did not have similarly elevated levels of arsenic.
Orzechowski said the assessment which detected the arsenic in the MW-106 well was done in 2023, with the assessment being submitted to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection the following year. Newbaker said they submit samples to WVDEP every six months.
After the arsenic was detected, additional monitoring wells were dug out further away from the site, Orzechowski said. These additional wells were used to monitor whether the arsenic was leaching further out from the site. However, no arsenic has been detected in those additional wells. At the moment, the arsenic appears to be contained to the ash pile, Orzechowski said.
Orzechowski and Newbaker said the ash pile is most likely the source of the arsenic. However, they pointed out that arsenic — while toxic — is a naturally-occurring element. They also said it’s connected to coal, of which a seam runs underground nearby. But since MW-106 is practically dug next to the ash pile, the ash pile is the likeliest culprit for the arsenic, they said.
Orzechowski said hydrology isn’t an exact science.
“If there is an uncertainty, we’re conservative in our approach,” he said. “Conservative estimates. We generally add more wells than we might need to. We might do more testing than we actually need to, but that’s just because there is that uncertainty.”
Orzechowski said they try worst case scenarios when they model what they think is happening underground.
Newbaker said the next step is to prepare and submit a remedy report to the WVDEP. The company plans to continue its current control and monitoring method on the ash pile, which according to a slide presented by Orzechowski, will maintain an existing cap to seal off the ash pile and continue monitoring ground water for changes. The slide said the company already meets groundwater protection compliance requirement.
The company also evaluated a second remedy, a groundwater pump and treat. The second method would involve the installation of groundwater pumping wells near MW-106, which would extract the groundwater and send it over for treatment prior to discharging it to the river. This method would require additional investigation to design a pump system.
“There’s no migration of the arsenic off-site,” Orzechowski said. “So quite frankly, there’s no need to do anything additional. The measuring stick is if we beat the groundwater protection standard. If there was water with elevated arsenic migrating off the property, that would propagate us to do more.”
However, some residents weren’t convinced.
Reesman expressed concern because her property is directly to the north of the ash pile. From Orzechowski’s description of how the groundwater was flowing, she worried arsenic would get into her water.
Other residents expressed concern that water pooling in an underground mine would have a negative impact on their groundwater as well. Orzechowski did his best to reassure residents that unless people were trying to drink water directly from the site, they wouldn’t be impacted by the arsenic.
Nick Bartic, one of the residents, said the impact appeared to be localized.
“In terms of general concerns, not necessarily, but someone who has a more immediate contact with any of these sites, you’re obviously going to have a lot of questions,” he said.
Bartic was also concerned that the cost for containing or remediating the arsenic would be passed onto ratepayers. It’s his main concern, he said.
Newbaker said the next step in the remedy process includes a public comment period. He urged residents who are concerned to submit responses to the WVDEP.
Rivesville Mayor Kim Salerno said she would use her office to do as much research and keep residents informed as possible. Contamination of the groundwater is a public safety and environmental issue, she said. But so far, she’s satisfied with Mon Power’s response.
She noted that the presentation elevated some concerns among residents, which she said she would look into as well. Salerno only found out about the arsenic a few days prior to the meeting.
“I have contacts at Mon Power, and I’m going to reach out more on this issue and see what else can be done and go from there,” she said.
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