by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor 
  Construction of the diffuser pipe which will release Buchanan No. l  mine water into the Levisa River near Poetown began this past weekend and plans are to begin the discharge as soon as construction is completed and river conditions warrant the discharge.
  CONSOL’s Joe Cerenzia said Monday that under the permits the company has in place from the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies who have given their stamp of approval to the project, the discharge will be allowed to occur when construction is complete, provided water flow and water quality parameters outlined in the permits warrant the water release.
  “If all goes well, the diffuser should be in place by the end of the week,” Cerenzia said.
  The company was able to secure variances from DMME and VMRC which allow it to be in the riverbed now to complete the diffuser pipe installation.
  Previously, DMME permit language indicated the company would not be allowed in the river between March 15 and July 31 to conduct in-stream work in order not to disturb the variegate darter, a fish which inhabits the Levisa and which is on the state endangered species list. Last week, that time restriction was changed to between April 15 and July 31.
  As part of its agreement related to in-stream construction parameters with the state agencies involved in the permitting process, CONSOL further agreed to fund up to $300,000 for research and monitoring efforts regarding variegate darters.
  “The agency doesn’t have complete data on the variegate darter and they were hoping to partner with us on it,” Cerenzia said, noting the company had agreed to fund the research project as a sign of its partnership in the study.
  The variance granted by DMME last week modified the dates during which in-stream activity would be restricted. As a result, CONSOL was given the okay to be in the river up until April 15.
  According to DMME Public Information Officer Mike Abbott, the agency’s decision to grant the variance was based on an opinion issued by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF).
  Abbott said when CONSOL officials first asked for a field revision on the permit to allow the construction now, DMME had indicated that DGIF’s opinion on the matter would be the deciding factor for any DMME decision.
  In its letter to Les Vincent, DMME technical services manager, Raymond T. Fernald, DGIF manager of nongame and environmental programs, wrote that its role was to determine likely impacts on fish, wildlife resources and habitat and to recommend appropriate measures “to avoid, reduce or compensate for those impacts.”
  The diffuser installation, he noted in his letter dated March 26, 2007, would permanently impact a section of the stream channel where it was installed and further, he said it was possible that sedimentation and streambed disturbance associated with construction activities during the time of year restriction (TOYR) “could adversely impact reproduction by variegate darters if the streambed disturbance occurs at a critical point in the spawning season.”
  Fernald continued, “having considered the details of the construction precautions proposed by CONSOL, DGIF has concluded that subject to the methods described, the TOYR can and should be modified.”
  As a result, DGIF and CONSOL Energy came to an agreement to minimize possible adverse impact to reproduction by the variegate darter, as well as what the letter refers to as “other mitigation and compensation measures.”

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