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JONATHAN
CLIFTON
demonstrates
how
the
new
E-911
system
will
function
once
it
becomes
operational.
Final
testing
is
underway
now.
(Staff
photo/Cathy
St.
Clair.)
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E-911
Is
Almost
Ready
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
With
final
testing
and
installation
of
computer
systems
and
DSL
lines
nearing
completion
at
the
Buchanan
County
E-911
center,
it
won’t
be
long
until
the
new
E-911
system
is
up
and
running.
In
fact,
E-911
Coordinator
Greg
Clevinger
said
he
hopes
the
transition
is
so
seamless
that
the
only
difference
emergency
callers
will
notice
is
in
the
words
used
to
answer
the
phone.
“Instead
of
“Buchanan
County
Sheriff’s
Department,”
callers
may
soon
expect
to
hear
“Buchanan
County
911.
What’s
your
emergency?”
“We
will
try
to
make
it
as
seamless
as
possible,”
Clevinger
said,
noting
the
day
Verizon
flips
the
switch
to
change
over
the
service
routing
is
likely
to
be
by
no
later
than
the
first
week
in
November.
Three
dispatchers
have
been
hired
and
will
work
with
seven
others
already
working
for
the
sheriff’s
department
on
alternating
shifts
so
that
the
new
E-911
center
is
manned
24
hours
a
day,
seven
days
a
weeks.
Four
stations
are
set
up
in
the
Public
Safety
Answering
Point,
or
PSAP
office
of
the
E-911
office
complex
on
Slate
Creek.
Four
emergency
lines
have
been
established
and
those
roll
over
automatically
meaning
emergency
callers,
unless
there
is
a
catastrophe,
should
never
get
a
busy
signal.
The
number
of
emergency
lines
to
be
installed
was
determined
based
on
a
recommended
average
of
one
line
per
12,000
people
and
the
system
has
been
constructed
to
allow
for
future
potential
growth.
“We
feel
this
county
will
grow,
so
we
put
in
two
more,”
Clevinger
said.
All
calls
are
recorded.
Each
station
has
four
separate
screens
surrounding
the
operator.
One
is
a
phone
system
screen;
another
is
a
CAD
screen;
another
is
a
mapping
screen;
and
the
fourth
is
a
radio
screen.
“What
this
system
can
do
is
unreal,”
Clevinger
said.
The
systems
are
costly,
at
about
$386,000
for
all
four.
Two
stations
will
operate
at
all
times,
with
the
other
two
used
as
back-up
stations.
When
callers
dial
in
with
an
emergency,
even
the
ring
tone
on
the
phone
will
be
different.
The
system
can
distinguish
between
administrative
calls
and
emergency
calls,
because
of
the
numbers
dialed.
A
normal
ring
tone
will
sound
for
administrative
calls,
but
the
ring
tone
for
emergency
calls,
Clevinger
said,
demonstrating
the
sound,
will
definitely
get
the
attention
of
operators
there
to
handle
calls
and
anyone
else
who
happens
to
be
in
the
area
as
well.
The
ring
tone
chosen
is
a
Tarzan
jungle
yell.
It’s
definitely
an
attention
getter,
Clevinger
said.
When a caller dials in
for
emergency
reasons,
the
computer
screens
in
front
of
the
operator
will
automatically
pop
up
with
an
i.d.
of
where
the
call
is
coming
from
and
from
there,
a
key
stroke
or
two
later,
the
E-911
operator
has
the
ability
to
pull
up
information
on
the
location
which
will
tell
that
operator
everything
he
or
she
needs
to
know
about
where
the
dispatch
assistance
is
needed
--
from
what
established
emergency
service
zone
help
needs
to
be
dispatched,
to
other
information
about
the
household
which
the
household
turned
in
when
completing
its
emergency
cards
earlier
in
the
E-911
process.
If
the
caller
was
specific
when
he
or
she
filled
out
his
or
her
card,
then
the
computer
will
even
alert
emergency
personnel
to
special
needs
such
as
the
caller
is
diabetic,
takes
certain
medications
or
is
in
a
wheelchair.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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DMME
Issues
Response
to
Comments
On
Permit
Sixteen
Page
Document
Addresses
Citizen
Concerns
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
A
16-page
document
summarizing
the
Virginia
Department
of
Mines,
Minerals
and
Energy’s
response
to
written
and
oral
comments
regarding
CONSOL’s
proposed
discharge
into
the
Levisa
River
has
now
been
sent
to
those
who
submitted
the
comments.
In
a
letter
dated
September
26,
DMME
Legal
Services
Officer
Gavin
Bledsoe
informed
those
had
commented
that
the
department
had
approved
the
permit
request
for
the
discharge.
The
permit
was
approved
September
15
and
that
approval
was
previously
reported
by
the
Mountaineer.
The
permit
approved
by
DMME
will
allow
CONSOL
to
discharge
untreated
mine
water
high
in
chlorides
into
the
Levisa
through
a
diffuser
system
to
be
located
in
the
Poetown
area
of
the
river.
The
discharge
amount
will
be
based
on
river
flow
and
chloride
levels
in
the
stream
and
in
the
mine
water,
but
could
be
as
high
as
10,000
gallons
per
minute,
based
on
the
permit
allowances.
As
proposed,
the
mine
water
would
enter
the
stream
through
a
diffuser
system
in
the
bottom
of
the
river
after
having
been
pumped
from
the
mine,
near
Contrary
via
overland
pipeline
to
Poetown.
It
would
then
travel
through
a
mixing
zone
area
of
the
river
where
it
would
be
diluted
and
mix
in
with
the
water
already
in
the
river.
All
of
the
people
receiving
the
16-page
response
last
week
were
informed
they
had
30
days
from
receipt
of
the
certified
letter
to
request
a
formal
public
hearing
if
they
wished
to
contest
the
department’s
decision.
Written
requests
for
hearing
must
be
submitted
to
Bledsoe’s
attention
at
the
DMME
office,
P.O.
Drawer
900,
Big
Stone
Gap,
Va.,
24219.
Bledsoe
further
informed
letter
recipients,
“the
burden
of
proof
at
such
formal
hearing
shall
be
on
the
party
seeking
to
reverse
the
division's
decision.”
In
granting
the
permit,
the
company
was
required
to
increase
its
insurance
surety
bond
in
the
amount
of
$397,000
bringing
its
current
bond
amount
on
the
permit
to
$15,578,300.
In
its
letter
response,
DMME
notes
CONSOL
does
not
propose
treatment
to
reduce
chloride
levels
in
the
mine
water
prior
to
discharge
and
further
that
chlorides
and
other
constituents
of
the
mine
water
are
almost
exclusively
in
the
dissolved
state
with
odor
and
color
impacts
not
anticipated.
It
further
notes
that
reverse
osmosis
was
considered
as
the
most
relevant
technology
available
to
reduce
chloride
levels,
however
the
permit
application,
it
notes
addresses
the
feasibility
of
the
company
--
from
the
company's
perspective
--
using
reverse
osmosis
in
terms
of
both
cost
and
generation
of
treatment
wastes
that
would
also
require
disposal.
“DMLR
accepts
the
applicant’s
evaluation
of
the
treatment
feasibility
and
finds
that
the
mine
water
can
be
discharged
using
the
systems
proposed
in
compliance
with
applicable
regulations
without
reverse
osmosis
treatment,”
the
letter
states.
It
further
notes
the
discharge
will
be
required
to
meet
technology-based
effluent
limitations
related
to
pH,
total
iron,
total
manganese
and
total
suspended
solids.
“Treatment
to
reduce
these
parameters
may
be
necessary,”
the
letter
notes.
In
response
to
a
comment
about
testing
as
to
whether
the
Levisa
River
also
approaches
or
exceeds
the
minimum
allowable
limits
for
chlorides
in
some
places
was
answered
using
baseline
data
collected
by
the
company
and
referred
to
in
the
permit
application.
Concerns
alleging
water
being
pumped
from
the
mines
might
also
be
contaminated
due
to
the
mine
works
(PCBs,
heavy
metals,
human
waste,
oils,
grease,
chromium
magnetite,
mercury,
salts
and
other
contaminants
from
abandoned
mining
equipment
and
chemicals
left
underground),
makes
reference
only
to
testing
of
Buchanan
#
1
mine
water,
while
comments
at
the
hearing
were
concerned
with
any
possible
contamination
of
water
now
being
stored
in
VP3
and
the
Beatrice
mine
which
might
be
sent
through
the
proposed
diffuser
system
and
into
the
river.
Impact
to
wildlife,
the
letter
notes,
has
seen
the
project
designed
and
implemented
“to
minimize
disturbance
and
adverse
impacts
on
fish,
wildlife
and
related
environmental
values.
It
notes
CONSOL
has
proposed
a
time
of
year
restriction
to
the
construction
of
the
mixing
zone
with
no
work
to
be
conducted
during
the
typical
spawning
and
early
development
period
for
the
variegate
darter
March
15
though
July
31,
as
was
requested
by
the
state.
The
actual
discharge
pipe,
it
notes,
will
be
located
in
a
pool
which
is
not
the
preferred
habitat
of
the
darter.
In
looking
at
effects
to
aquatic
plants,
the
letter
notes
that
some
0.4
to
0.8
percent
of
passively
drifting
aquatic
plants
could
be
affected
in
the
mixing
zone
area.
But
it
notes
impacts,
if
they
do
occur,
would
be
to
non-mobile
plants
in
the
area.
Elevated
chloride
concentrations,
it
is
suggested
are
“estimated
to
occur
in
the
center
of
the
stream.”
Riparian
vegetation,
it
is
noted,
is
located
along
the
stream
banks,
making
it
less
likely
to
be
adverse,
the
letter
suggests.
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For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. To subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today. |
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