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Press Release
March 8, 2007
Contact: Patricia Fenney, Sludge Safety Project 304-235-2618; cell-304-360-2110
For photos of SSP members at the State Capitol: Vivian Stockman,
vivian@ohvec.org
Senate, House agree to study coal slurry and groundwater contamination
Sludge Safety Project wants independent verification of study
CHARLESTON, W.VA. – When they started an organized effort for legislative help last spring, many members of the Sludge Safety Project had never been inside the State Capitol.
Since then the group has participated in Interim meetings and lobbied the legislators every Tuesday during the session, armed with samples of apparently slurry-contaminated water and information packets. Now they know the marble halls, many state legislators and the political process well.
The group was on hand today (Thursday, March 8), to see the Senate pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 15, for which they had lobbied. The resolution mandates that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) perform studies to determine exactly what is in coal slurry, whether it is getting into people’s well water when it is injected underground and what effects the slurry is having on human health.
The House passed a similar resolution two weeks ago. Now the House must pass the Senate version of the bill before the legislative session ends at midnight Saturday (March 10).
“It’s about time our health department and DEP knows what is in the slurry that is being injected,” said Charleston resident Regina Hendrix. “The study should lead to a ban on slurry injection.”
“We thank the senators for hearing our words and taking into consideration the health of everyone in Mingo County and all the people in West Virginia. We need to know if this slurry is getting into the water,” said Elaine Roberts of Merrimac in Mingo County.
Sludge Safety Project members said they will celebrate the passage of the resolution, and after that they will undertake efforts to ensure that independent scientists be allowed to sample and analyze coal slurry.
“We’ve had problems getting help from the DEP and other state agencies,” said Glen Daniel resident Chuck Nelson. “The heads of these agencies are appointed by the administration and we have had difficulty getting fair judgments from them. We would like to have independent scientists be included, to make it a fair study.”
“I'm thankful that they want to do something for us people that live in the areas with the slurry injection and find out what’s killing everybody in the communities like mine. They’ve needed to do this a long time and coalfield residents really fought the good fight to make this happen,” noted Donetta Blankenship from Rawl in Mingo County.
Blankenship and many of her neighbors from Rawl, Lick Creek, Sprigg and Merrimac in Mingo County believe coal prep plants have contaminated area groundwater with the decades-long practice of injecting coal waste into underground mines.
“We really appreciated the ones that stood up for us and helped to push this study through. We're not against coal mining, like everyone thinks we are, because coal mining around here is really important to everyone,” said Rawl resident Brenda Brown. “We just want it to be safer for the environment and for the public.”
“I think this study is important for the children and for everybody. I'd go back to lobby again if it will do good,” said Robert Clark, from Merrimac. “Now we just have to stay on them to get these sludge injections stopped.”
Sludge Safety Project coordinator Patricia Feeney noted that over half a million West Virginians use well water as their home water supply.
“This study is one step toward protecting groundwater,” Fenney said. “Given citizen experience with and subsequent distrust of the agencies involved, this study must include the input of independent scientists. The study has to be real, not politicized, in order to make a difference.”
The Sludge Safety Project is a collaborative effort of the Huntington-based Ohio Valley Environmental, the Whitesville-based Coal River Mountain Watch and community members from Mingo and Boone counties.
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More information at www.sludgesafety.org.
Photos of Lobby Tuesday participants at work available from vivian@ohvec.org.
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