Residents Worry About Sludge Pond Hazards

by Kyle Lovern, Williamson Daily Mail, Feb. 17, 2006

DELBARTON - Billions of gallons of coal slurry and water sits behind earthen dams throughout southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

What would happen if one of these facilities were to break above a populated community?

Many people worry about this potential hazard. Walter and Carol Young, who live on Hell Creek near Delbarton, have been concerned for several years about such a structure above their community…

“It looks like if the trend keeps going like it is,” Mr. Young said, “we will have so many coal waste impoundments that we will be one of the most dangerous places in the world to live.”

The Mountain State has over 130 coal slurry impoundments, many in the southern counties…

“I’m really concerned about this and have been for about four years,” Young added. He said that the Delbarton Mining Company applied and received a permit for a 56-acre slurry dam above Hell Creek.

“If it were to break, it would come down through this community, into Pigeon Creek and all the way to Naugatuck,” a concerned Young says. “We would be buried alive under coal sludge.”

“Lots of people in the area don’t even know these exist,” he added.

He is also worried about sludge being injected into old underground worked out mines, and thus affecting the water supplies for hundreds of people.

He said the people of Lick Creek and Rawl have suffered a similar plight …