No Funds for Acid Mine Drainage in Deckers Creek... Yet

Story by Stacy Moniot
Channel 12 News

MORGANTOWN -- A Monongalia County group wants the state to move a little faster on cleaning up acid mine drainage in Decker's Creek, but state officials say the funds just are not there.

The amount of money it is going to take to clean up a portion of Decker's Creek is just about as scary as the creek's water, but a group, the Friends of Decker's Creek, won't give up on the project.

To their members, it is worth the cost. "We're ready!" says the group's executive director, Sarah Veselka. "And the community's willing and there' been a lot of hard work going into cleaning up AMD in the watershed, Richard Mine is the last problem. It's the biggest problem, but it's the last problem."

It is also the most expensive problem. There is an agreement for the state to fund the cleanup, but after several years, the project has not moved forward. The group has asked city council, county commission, and others to join them in trying to get Governor Joe Manchin's attention.

"We'd like to see Manchin urge the DEP to abandoned mine land funds to put a treatment facility at the Richard Mine," Veselka says.

"We are totally committed and dedicated to getting that done," Gov. Manchin replied at a separate public event. "And I have been brought up, a little bit to speed on it, not the details of it, because I asked the same question when I heard it- 'Why aren't we doing that?'"

The WV DEP says it comes down to money. They estimate it would take $500,000 to maintain a treatment facility, on top of the millions it will take to start the process.There just are not enough funds left to fund the expensive cleanup, after taking care of higher priority projects, according to DEP officials.

"Decker's Creek could have a thriving bass fishery, people could access the creek from the Rail Trail, and I think it could promote a lot of creekside development," Veselka says.

But that is just the problem, according to DEP officials. Decker's Creek would be mostly a recreation site, while mine reclamation funds are better used by improving drinking water.

State officials say they will try to use incoming federal funds to store up money for the project.