Help Us Make Coalfield Communities Safer from Sludge

In 2003, Senator Robert Byrd said, "Breaks in coal slurry impoundments can threaten the lives and health of area residents, destroy homes and businesses and contaminate water supplies. This dangerous potential looms over coal mining regions in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia."

OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch and concerned citizens of Mingo County have gone door-to-door in coalfield counties, asking people what is on their minds. We found that, no matter people’s opinion on mountaintop removal coal mining, most are very concerned about coal sludge impoundments.

Many, many West Virginians worry about these vast lakes of coal waste, chemicals and water that loom above their communities.

That’s why both of these groups and residents are collaborating on the Sludge Safety Project (SSP), www.sludgesafety.org. We aim, with a little help from you, to spur changes that will result in safer coalfield communities.

The project’s goals include improving safety for those who live downstream from coal sludge impoundments, advocating for the shut down of the most dangerous impoundments as quickly as possible, improving water quality for all West Virginians and spurring the use of alternative methods of coal-waste disposal so that we can eventually eliminate coal sludge impoundments.

We are asking you to contact your state legislators to let them know you are worried about water quality and your own safety or that of others.

The only way legislators will know what’s on your mind is if you tell them! Check out the SSP website for plenty of information.

Coal sludge impoundments are not necessary. Some coal companies used to or are now using alternative, dry methods to dispose of coal waste. These methods are currently more expensive than the sludge "ponds."

For people who live in the shadows of these massive impoundments – indeed for all of us – this cost is more than worth it when compared to the costs of potential disasters.

If you would like to get involved with the Sludge Safety Project, please either e-mail vivian@ohvec.org  or visit www.sludgesafety.org.

Acidic, mercury laden water (verified by testing) seeps from the bottom of a coal sludge impoundment (the lay of the land allowed us to stand below the bottom of the impoundment) in Mingo County. The water flows, untreated, into area streams, then into the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River. Drink up!