This article originally provided by The Daily Mail

January 9, 2007

Lawmakers want study of coal slurry in drinking water

By TOM BREEN
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The West Virginia Coal Association may not understand why legislators are asking about coal slurry and groundwater when the matter is before a Mingo County circuit court.

But lawmakers said Monday that they cannot ignore their constituents' concerns about the possibility of coal waste contaminating drinking water and endorsed a resolution calling for a comprehensive study of the matter.

For months, a joint interim subcommittee has been studying whether coal waste pumped into tapped-out underground mines could poison local drinking water. Until Monday, though, the association representing the state's mining industry hadn't weighed in at one of the subcommittee's meetings.

Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton told lawmakers he was surprised they were even considering legislation on the topic, since a lawsuit involving a slurry injection system is heading for trial in Mingo County.

"We're interested in why the legislature or this committee would try substituting itself for the judiciary,'' Hamilton said.

He told lawmakers that the Mingo County operation is the only one of 12 slurry injection systems that has been challenged in terms of safety for residents and the environment.

Hamilton said while drinking water quality may be an issue in parts of West Virginia, there is no correlation between active mining operations and contaminated wells.

State officials estimate that about a half-million state residents rely on wells or hauled water for their drinking supply.

In previous meetings, the committee heard testimony from coalfield residents who link health problems to contaminated water, and from Ben Stout, a biology professor at Wheeling Jesuit University, who studied abandoned underground mines where coal operators inject slurry waste.

Stout and his team tested more than 170 springs, streams and wells around the Mingo County mine sites last year. Among other findings, the testing showed unsafe levels of iron, manganese and sodium in 42 percent of the wells.

Stout also noted that tests on water from one resident's hot water heater found "phenomenal'' levels of dangerous metals and chemicals, leading him to wonder whether hot water heaters could be acting as a concentrating factor.

Delegate Robert Tabb, D-Jefferson, told Hamilton that lawmakers cannot ignore the volume of complaints and entreaties from residents.

"It almost seems like you're telling us it's none of our business,'' Tabb told Hamilton. "I take exception to that.''

The subcommittee voted to endorse a resolution calling for a study by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Bureau of Public Health into the effects of coal slurry injection on drinking water and the environment. The resolution calls for the study to be finished by Jan. 1, and will now move to the full Judiciary Committee for consideration.

But Tabb, in the face of opposition from members of the subcommittee, agreed to table a proposal that would require mining companies with coal slurry injection systems to buy bonds that would pay for the cost of cleanup if there is a spill or break. Committee members said they didn't have enough time to properly study the proposed bill.