This news story originally provided by Huntington News

December 11, 2005

Booster Pump Failure Results in Slurry Spill in Coal River Tributary

By HNN Staff

Pettus, WV (HNN) – A booster pump failure resulted in a slurry spill into Brushy Fork impoundment Saturday morning, Dec. 10, 2005 about 11 a.m., according to Matt Noerpel of Coal River Mountain Watch in Whitesville. The spill at Massey Energy’s Marfork Coal Co. preparation plant was reported to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which ordered the plant shut down until the pump was fixed and the sludge removed.
 
The DEP said the spill affected a five-mile area, traveling from Little Marsh Fork Creek into Marsh Fork and Coal River. Jessica Greathouse of DEP said. She added that once the slurry has been removed, the cessation order will become a violation.
 
Noerpel of CRMW said the spill occurred near Pettus, Raleigh County, on Route 3 just south of Whitesville. “From the Marfork prep plant or Brushy Fork sludge dam into Little Marsh Fork Creek and into the Marsh Fork of the Coal River, the river is black,” he told HNN.
 
Noerpel said the spill raised the level of the creek about eight inches before subsiding. For more information from CRMW, phone 304-854-2182.