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Sludge disasters cast shadow over coal revival

--

 

USA: June 15, 2001

 

 

INEZ, Ky. - Last autumn's Kentucky coal disaster, in which tons of coal sludge

gushed down a mountain from a man-made pond killing wildlife below, is a stark

reminder of environmental risks hanging over Appalachia's coalfields.

 

 

There are 600 such ponds throughout Appalachia filled with potentially dangerous

heavy metals that are left behind after the chemical rinsing of coal, and with a

revival of the coal industry under way, regulators want to insure the safety of

the ponds.

Appalachia's low sulphur coal - used by power plants to feed U.S. electricity

needs - is in increasing demand. And utilities across the country recently

announced plans to build 34 more coal fired plants by 2013 that will need the

high-grade Appalachian coal to meet stricter environmental regulations.

 

The coal industry also has high-powered friends - including President George W.

Bush, and West Virginia's Robert Byrd, a Democrat - who have supported plans for

billions of dollars of research money for burning coal cleaner at plants.

 

But many are concerned about the safety of ponds, filled with what is often

called slurry, because in many cases, they hang over small villages in this

mountain region where locals mostly live in valleys, many of which have only one

road out.

 

STUDIES PENDING

 

Last Oct. 11, the coal slurry in Inez, Ky. on top of an underground mine

operated by Massey Energy , broke through the mine's roof. The 250 million

gallons of slurry that spurted out did not immediately harm any people, but the

spill killed wildlife in streams and rivers as far as 60 miles away (96 km),

 

In comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 spilled 11 million

gallons of crude oil.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency called Inez " one of the worst environmental

disasters in the history of the southeastern United States, " and was a reminder

of the 1972 Buffalo Creek coal gob spill in West Virginia that killed 125 people

and wiped out 4,000 homes.

 

A spokesman for the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA) said the coal industry

in his state awaits government reports on coal ponds. " We are waiting on the

findings of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) before we make any sweeping

changes, " said a spokesman for WVCA.

 

Massey, who so far has not paid any fines for the spill and whose lawyers

claimed the Inez break was, " an act of God, " did not return phone calls asking

what the company has done since Inez to ensure their impoundments are safe.

 

Besides the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Labor's Mine Safety

and Health Administration (MSHA) as well as the Department of Interior's Office

of Surface Mining are studying coal pond saftey. MSHA published a list of all

the ponds in the country and ranks them by their risk of breaking.

 

Last April, West Virginia's state Department of Environmental Protection told

coal companies to examine their sludge ponds and issue reports to the state.

 

INDUSTRY ADOPTING SOLUTIONS, BUT SLOWLY

 

Gadgets called water pressers, which have been around since 1984, can make many

of the ponds safer by squeezing the water from sludge which greatly reduces the

weight of the ponds, according to engineers. But so far few companies make broad

use of water pressers.

 

" Water pressers can eliminate slurry ponds, " said Pete Petrey, Vice President of

Phoenix Processing Equipment in Louisville, KY who makes and sells the pressers.

 

" Initial investment costs are higher for a coal company to put in pressers, but

costs to a company are a lot higher when an impoundment breaks, " he said.

 

He said installment prices vary with sizes and types of slurry ponds.

 

Larry Emerson, Arch Coal's environmental director, said the company is currently

using a water presser at one of its operations, " but it is not the best solution

for all of our operations, " he said.

 

Appalachians concerned about coal ponds want pressers to be used more broadly.

" Water pressers are readily available and they are cost competitive, " said Tom

Fitzgerald, lawyer for the Kentucky Resources Council. " Any other industry is

required to use the most expensive technology, said Fitzgerald. " The coal

industry is allowed to choose the cheapest. "

 

He said miscommunications between state and federal regulators is part of the

problem that leads to neglect. " Nobody seems to be minding the shop, " he said.

 

Whitesville resident Freda Williams lives in a valley where a Massey impoundment

lies above an elementary school where 200 students are enrolled. Like many, she

is tired of the risk. " I put an ad last week in the Charleston Gazette to sell

my home, " she said. " But nobody is going to buy it. "

 

A RIVER RUNS BY THEM

 

Environmental lawyer Jan Schlichtmann, who was chronicled in the book and film

" A Civil Action, " is investigating the Inez spill.

 

Schlichtmann's assistant told Reuters that Schlichtmann has visited Inez " at

least two or three times per month in the last couple of months. " His assistant

could not comment on the investigation, saying it was only in preliminary

stages.

 

Phylistie Horn, 81, says she has never heard of Schlichtmann's investigation.

Horn lives where she was born, off county road 69 in Warfield on a bank of the

Tug Fork about 20 miles from the spill. There's a replica of the Statue of

Liberty on the corner. Hummingbirds and cardinals flit around her back yard. But

the river is dead. The fish all died after the October spill, and now the banks

are slippery, oily, and gray.

 

She's building a new house far away from the Tug Fork because she says her lungs

have gotten worse since October. " It will take a while before it's all built,

but I'm leaving, " she said.

 

Unlike most of her neighbors, Horn's water wells ran dry years before the Inez

spill. She and eight of her heirs wash their dishes in tap water that originates

from the Tug Fork. The water is collected in a reservoir and then treated at the

water plant.

 

They no longer take baths because the water makes them itch, so they take quick

showers. The water smells of the heavy chlorine the plant puts in. Martin County

Coal, a subsidiary of Massey, used to truck in water after the spill, but those

stopped two months ago, said Horn. The city said the water is safe, but Horn's

daughter, Rebecca, climbs Logan Mountain to bring back spring water.

 

Meawhile, Arch's Emerson said his company is studying whether it can use more

water pressers. " We're getting better, " he said.

 

MSHA's Web site that lists the nation's slurry ponds can be found at:

http://www.msha.gov/impoundments/impoundmenthp.htm.

 

 

 

Story by Timothy Gardner

 

 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE