This news story originally provided by The Register-Herald

August 7, 2005

Marsh Fork Elementary air testing finished

Humidity level only problem found

By Amelia A. Pridemore/REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

After conducting air quality testing at Marsh Fork Elementary, state education officials only reported humidity levels in the school were high.

However, concerned citizens in the Coal River Valley remain skeptical of the findings.

Gov. Joe Manchin's office is conducting an investigation into claims of a group of concerned residents that students at Marsh Fork Elementary are constantly sick. They claim the children are sick because of coal dust and chemicals used at the Massey Energy-owned Goals Coal Co. next door. The residents also contend a 2.8 billion-gallon sludge impoundment at Goals is leaking and is an extreme hazard to the school and the community.

According to a letter from Bill Elswick, executive director of the Office of School Facilities, to Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Charlotte Hutchens, staff members with the state Department of Education visited Marsh Fork Elementary to conduct an indoor air quality investigation.

Air filters used in the rooftop units meet minimum requirements established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and the West Virginia Board of Education, according to the letter. No recommendations were made for improvement. Also, no visible signs of mold growth in the facility were found, which again led to no recommendations for improvement.

However, the letter did report that several areas of the school had high humidity levels due to improper heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment operation. Elswick recommended school officials place all units in an unoccupied mode and turn off all exhaust fans while students are not present. All manually operated outside air dampers on window air conditioners should be closed. The controls and units should go back to normal operation when students return.

Vernon Haltom, a Naoma resident and member of the local Coal River Mountain Watch organization, which has spearheaded protests against Massey's business practices in the Coal River Valley, remained skeptical about the report. He said school officials knew testing would be done at Marsh Fork Elementary after residents met with the governor in June and later that month did "heavy cleaning" at the school.

"If you put up a sign that says. 'Speed Trap Ahead,' people are going to slow down and do the speed limit," he said. "...If it's OK for coal dust to be on air ducts, then regulations aren't that good."

Haltom said that before school officials did heavy cleaning, members of Coal River Mountain Watch continually found coal dust on air ducts, a water pipe in the gymnasium and that they have videotape of it.

He would also like to see testing done on the playground's soil and health testing done on the children to see if they have been exposed to heavy metals.

"It's getting close to school starting, and a lot of parents are still afraid of sending their children back there," he said.

The sludge impoundment remains in operation, and while the Department of Environmental Protection has stated it is safe, Haltom is skeptical about this as well because the DEP first gave Massey a permit to build a second coal-loading silo at the facility, to later cancel it after an investigation that determined the permit was issued based on inaccurate maps and that the silo may be outside the legal permit boundary.

"I wonder what other things they may have missed and if any other permit problems have been conveniently overlooked," he said. "I'm definitely not more at ease being told the only problem is high humidity. That's not being told a whole lot."

- E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com