This article originally provided by The Courier-Journal

January 18, 2008

Violations no surprise to Massey neighbor

By Bill Estep
BESTEP@HERALD-LEADER.COM

James Earl Evans said he wasn't surprised that regulators charged Massey Energy with committing thousands of environmental violations. He saw the evidence firsthand, fouling Big Creek where it runs through his property in Pike County, he said.

Evans, a retired coal miner who lives at Hatfield, said he complained for two years about discharges from a coal-waste impoundment and coal-processing facility operated by a Massey company near him, Sidney Coal Company.

"They were constantly dumping blackwater into the creek," said Evans, 63.

When his grandchildren came to visit from Ohio, they asked, "Papaw, how come your water is gray and black?"

Evans said the waste flowing into Big Creek caused fish kills. He kept children out of the creek and couldn't use it for fear that there were toxic metals and other pollutants in it, Evans said.

State inspectors responded to his calls and cited the company, but it didn't end the problem.

"They were so obnoxious ...," Evans said of the company. An employee once told him, "The only way they'll do anything is if you make them."

In 2004, Evans -- who had worked many years for another Massey company -- sued Sidney Coal, claiming it had repeatedly violated limits on wastes such as fine coal particles it could discharge into the creek. Evans and the company settled the lawsuit in 2005.

Sidney Coal did not admit violating the law, but said there was enough evidence for a judge to conclude it had. The company agreed to improve pollution controls; pay $25,000 to Evans' attorneys from the Appalachian Citizens Law Center Inc.; and pay $125,000 to the Mountain Water District to help install sewage-treatment devices for Evans and other homeowners.