EPA biologist says fracking may be partly to blame for West Virginia fish kill

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U.S. EPA has ended its investigation and pointed the finger at a local coal mine, Blacksville No. 2, and entered a multimillion-dollar settlement with the owner, Consol Energy Inc.

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But the lead EPA biologist on the case has challenged that idea, saying that the most likely explanation for the fish kill involves the environmental effects of Marcellus Shale drilling.

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Emails obtained by Greenwire through a Freedom of Information Act request show EPA biologist Lou Reynolds telling colleagues that coal mine drainage is unlikely to be the sole culprit.

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“Something has changed in the mine pools,” Reynolds wrote in a November 2009 email. The change, he said, could have come from miners digging deeper into a coal seam.

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But it could also be the case, he said, that “Mining companies are disposing of [coalbed methane] and Marcellus water in the mine pool,” or “Mining companies are taking [coalbed methane] and Marcellus water into their treatment ponds.

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“One or any combinations of the above might be happening,” Reynolds wrote.