Federal Official Worries About Valley Fill Stability

by Brian Bowling
Charleston Daily Mail, Jan. 16, 2004 (excerpts)

While many valley fills built in West Virginia in the last 1970s and early 1980s have turned out well, others are too large and aren’t draining like they should, a federal official said today.

Brent Wahlquist, regional director for the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, said many of the areas mined when he was with West Virginia’s mining program during the 1980s are a tribute to the industry.

Others, however, don’t show up so well when he’s done aerial inspections….

The federal mine regulator told an audience of coal industry officials that he’s concerned with how well coal companies are certifying the creation of natural drainage in valley fills that keeps them from retaining water. If water builds up in a valley fill, it affects the fill’s stability the same way that too much water in the ground can cause mudslides and other landslips.

Another concern, which the OSM addressed in a recently proposed regulation, is that coal companies are building larger fills than they need. A consequence of this is that the fill is built further down a watershed than it needed to have been and, as a result, affects more stream area than it should…

State Environmental Protection Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer also spoke at the symposium to review changes the Department of Environmental Protection has made to how it handles permit applications and inspections.

Timmermeyer said the agency has significantly reduced the number of permit applications that have been pending for more than six months.

She said the agency plans to set up a Web site next month that will make it easier for citizens to see what permit applications are pending in their area. The site will list pending permits by county…