OCR Text |
Show (5) investigation of the reworking of low-grade coal waste to recover merchantable coal and sulfur; and (6) development of systems for storing mine refuse from underground mines and overburden from strip mines which would reduce acid for- mation. Uncontrolled coal mining operations will result in accumulative damages to practically all other water uses if permitted to continue at the present rate. Legislation.-Most States in the basin have com- prehensive water pollution control legislation. Many of these statutes were enacted recently. Consequently, the results of State water pollution activities are not yet reflected in installed abatement works but some engineering planning for such works has been done. Exemptions from control author- ity still exist, however, notably in case of coal mining operations. In West Virginia, coal washery water and acid mine drainage are exempted from con- trol by the State water pollution control agency. In Pennsylvania, acid mine drainage which existed prior to the passage of the present act (1945) can- not be prevented except as the Commonwealth may construct works to divert acid mine drainage from one location to another. In this case the industries must deliver their acid mine drainage to a point designated by the control agency. Lack of uniform industrial pollution control re- quirements in the basin reacts to the disadvantage of industry as a whole. If exacting requirements are placed on any regional segment of a single in- dustry, that segment is placed at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the industry not operating under similar requirements. By June 1948, the States of New York, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois had ratified an interstate com- pact known as the Ohio River Valley Water Sani- tation Compact which was approved by Congress in 1940.5 This compact provides for a commission composed of three members from each State and three representing the Federal Government. The commission has broad regulatory powers on the portions of the Ohio River and its tributary waters which form boundaries between, or are contiguous to, two or more signatory States, or which flow from one signatory State into another. The compact requires that all sewage dis- charged in such waters shall be treated to provide for substantially complete removal of settleable 8 Act of July 11,1940, 54 Stat. 752. solids and removal of not less than 45 percent of the total suspended solids. For all practical pur- poses this involves primary treatment. In specific instances, it also requires higher degrees of treat- ment to protect public health or to preserve the waters for other legitimate uses. The compact provides that all industrial wastes permitted to flow into such waters shall be treated to the degree determined necessary by the com- mission after investigation, due notice, and hearing. All sewage of industrial wastes discharged into in- trastate streams shall be treated to the extent which may be necessary to maintain such waters in a con- dition at least equal to the conditions of the inter- state stream immediately above the confluence of the two. The commission has established an administra- tive office in Cincinnati which has been staffed with professional personnel. Its activities are financed by appropriations from the signatory States, the contribution from each State being determined by the population and the land area within the confines of the basin. While comparatively little reduction of pollution has actually been obtained since the initiation of the compact, considerable progress has been made in planning stages. The commission, through pub- lic hearings, has been instrumental in having Pitts- burgh and Cincinnati plan for higher degrees of waste treatment than the minimum specified by the compact. The West Virginia State Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia's participation in the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission was uncon- stitutional. This decision will be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Conclusions (1) Since pollution is adversely affecting all water uses and its control is essential to maximum beneficial use of the water resources in the Ohio River Basin, pollution control and abatement should be an integral part of a comprehensive water resources program for the Ohio River Basin. (2) Since acid-mine drainage constitutes the most serious pollution problem in the basin, there should be an accelerated research program on acid- mine drainage control. Such a program should be undertaken cooperatively by the coal industry and all State and Federal Government agencies which have an interest in the coal and water resources of the Ohio River Basin. 671 |