West Virginia Highlands Voice

by George Phillips and Bob Handley

A bad situation has been developing over the past year that threatens the Big Spring Fork and Upper Elk River watersheds.

County commissioners and developers want to build a 1.5 million gallon-per-day sewage plant on a shallow karst floodplain located on the historic Sharp Farm at Slatyfork, WV. The project plans to take possession of the land by eminent domain. The site has been owned by theSharp Family for over 8 generations. They are descendants of William Sharp, one of the first settlers in the area.

Big Spring Fork stream drains the local watershed and sinks/resurges at several locations in the valley. There are over 68 known karst features − caves, springs, and swallowholes − in Big Spring Fork valley.

The proposed site, a 9-acre meadow, contains numerous sinkholes, springs, and “boilholes,” where water boils up out of the ground during high flow conditions. The meadow, which is known to flood frequently, is an alluvial fan in a large bend of the Big Spring Fork and was formed by a small stream that flows off the adjacent Middle Mountain. This small stream sinks in the middle of the site, at a location where the treatment equipment is to be located, and rises again a short distance down slope in the meadow, apparently following the path of an enlarged joint in the shallow limestone.

The Big Spring Fork itself is normally dry in the area adjacent to the site during the summer and fall, sinking approximately 1/4 mile upstream of the meadow for the final time and rising as a large spring complex, including several small feeder springs and a large spring pool with separate stream channels, just 100 yards downstream of the site.

The locations of the stream sinking point and spring complex is a strong indication that the underground stream of the Big Spring Fork may be located directly under the proposed facility.

The proposed effluent line, from the plant to its final discharge point in the Big Spring Fork, is apparently to be routed across the up-gradient side of and then directly through the large spring pool resurgence – potentially beheading this beautiful and pristine spring!

All evidence points to a significant risk of site flooding by the surface stream or from below via the underground stream or boil holes or, worse yet, from sinkhole/void collapse on the site.

This creates an unnecessary risk of physical damage to the facility as well as the surrounding caves and springs in the immediate area. Failure of the treatment equipment presents the added potential hazard of contamination of the caves and groundwater beneath the site and downstream with untreated sewage.

In addition to the risks at the plant site, the raw sewage will be transported to the plant through a 5-mile PVC pipeline from the Snowshoe/ Silver Creek Ski Resorts (elevation 4,800 feet) and other planned developments. This pipeline crosses the Big Spring Fork (elevation 3,000 feet) in several locations, at one point crossing directly over a location where the stream completely sinks and is pirated into the local and significant Sharps Cave.

Sharps Cave has over 4 miles of passages and is classified as a significant cave by
the West Virginia Speleological Survey due to its unique biological, geological,
hydrological character as well as its significant length, recreational
value and historical value.

There are numerous manholes along the pipeline, all representing a potential overflow location, especially given the high elevation change in the collection system. A pumping station is planned near, and possibly directly over, a shallow passage in a significant wild cave (Sharps Cave). The “Root Canal” passage, so named due to the roots that protrude from the ceiling, is within 20 feet of the surface at this location. The pumping station wet well is planned to a depth of 25 feet.

Any failure of the supply line or the overflow of a manhole or pumping station could result in a raw sewage spill that could then flow directly into Sharps Cave or the underground Big Spring Fork.

This potential for a spill or bypassing presents a new and significant risk to groundwater, springs, drinking water wells, and caves in the Big Spring Fork and Elk River valleys, including Sharps Cave, My Cave, Elk River Cave, Left Tit Pit, and others. There are numerous species of concern and cave-adapted species in these caves and springs that could be threatened by a sewage spill.

What is planned will not work. There are cost-saving alternatives, including the best one, which is to treat the sewage where it is generated on the mountain.

An independent organization headed by cavers, Eight Rivers Safe Development, Inc., has been established to challenge the wisdom and safety of locating this project on karst. The name “Eight Rivers” comes from Pocahontas County, which is the headwaters area for eight significant rivers in the West Virginia.

Eight Rivers Safe Development, Inc. is organized for charitable and educational purposes to encourage and advocate the conservation and protection of karst, caves, and karst landscapes, and to promote safe development on karst terrains.

We believe it is better to prevent collapse, failure, contamination, and flooding upstream NOW, before the plant is built, than to pay for expensive cleanup downstream LATER when it is too late.

For more information visit: www.8RiversSafeDevelopment.com