This article originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

August 16, 2006

Massey bid for coal silo near school rejected a second time

By The Associated Press

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has denied for a second time a Massey Energy subsidiary’s application to build a second coal silo next to Marsh Fork Elementary School.

The DEP determined that because Goals Coal Co. did not have a silo at the site in 1977 it was not exempt from a Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act rule prohibiting mining operations within 300 feet of a school.

DEP notified Goals Coal of its decision last Friday. A phone call to Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater was not immediately returned.

Goals Coal’s plan to build a 168-foot-tall silo 260 feet from the school drew protests last year because of concerns over student health and the environment. Massey operates an identical silo, built in 2003, just 225 feet from the school. The silo stores coal and loads rail cars 150 feet from school grounds. After loading, the operation sprays a binding agent over the coal.

The DEP had originally approved the new silo because two maps submitted by Goals Coal last year showed it would be on land where coal operations were permitted before the 1977 law took effect. But questions about changes in the map’s perimeter on newer maps led to the permit’s revocation.

Goals appealed and the state Surface Mine Board upheld the DEP’s decision in March. The board ordered Massey to submit accurate maps for the location.

Randy Huffman, director of the DEP’s Division of Mining and Reclamation, said the silo permit was rejected because it was too close to the school.

“Our interpretation of the law is that it should not be allowed,’’ he said Tuesday.

The DEP also asked Goals Coal to submit a revised map of the mining operation’s boundaries within 30 days.

In a letter to the company, Huffman wrote the submitted maps and boundary markers accurately depict the property’s western boundary near the school, but did not accurately depict the permit boundary in the area of the bridge over Marsh Fork.

“That’s the map of record and it’s supposed to be right, but it’s never been,’’ Huffman said.

The DEP also said Goals failed to demonstrate that the silo would not encroach on the 300-foot school protection zone.

Sarah Haltom of the watchdog group Coal River Mountain Watch said she was pleased with the decision.

“But the silos are not the only problem, and if Massey’s engineers cannot even get a map right, how can we expect them to maintain a 2.8 billion gallon sludge dam above the school?’’ she asked. “These children still deserve a new school in their own community away from all of the threats that hover over them from the Massey sites here.’’

Ed Wiley, a grandparent of a former Marsh Fork student, is about 180 miles into a 455-mile walk to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about the issues at the school and to raise funds for a new school. Wiley is representing the campaign Pennies of Promise and plans to arrive in Washington on Sept. 12.

A new school would cost about $5 million.