This article originally provided by The Columbus Dispatch

February 29, 2008

Coal-slurry spill blackens miles of creek

By Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

State and federal officials are investigating a major coal-slurry spill that blackened part of a Belmont County creek that's home to an endangered salamander.

Part of Captina Creek turned black from slurry that apparently leaked from a storage impoundment near the Ohio Valley Coal Co. mine near Alledonia.

Slurry is coal-dust contaminated water used to wash freshly mined coal.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency took video of the creek from an aircraft yesterday afternoon as officials documented the spill. U.S. EPA officials also were investigating.

Ten miles of the creek, which empties into the Ohio River, turned black, said Cristie Wilt, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Officials were monitoring for a fish kill or harm to other wildlife. There were no immediate signs of a fish kill, but fish can survive longer in cold water, and the water was too black to see fish, she said.

The leading edge of the slurry spill was approaching the Ohio River early yesterday evening, Wilt said.

Ohio EPA spokeswoman Carol Hester said officials were sampling creek water to assess damage and investigating how the spill happened.

A broken slurry pipeline from a sister American Energy Corp. mine polluted 2,300 feet of Captina Creek in 2005, killing thousands of fish. The company cleaned the creek and paid a $50,000 fine.

American Energy and Ohio Valley Coal, owners of Ohio's largest underground coal mines, both are owned by Robert E. Murray of the Cleveland area.

Rob Murray, a Murray

Energy Corp. vice president, confirmed the receipt of an e-mail inquiry from The Dispatch about the spill, but he did not immediately answer questions or provide comments.

The Eastern hellbender, an endangered salamander, has been found in Captina Creek.

The Ohio Valley Coal Co. proposed converting Casey Run Creek into a slurry lagoon and creating two streams to route water around the lagoon. Casey Run empties into Captina Creek.

However, the Ohio EPA denied the request last year, saying it poised "insurmountable" environmental concerns for the area's waterways.