Lawsuits Muddy Water Project

by Leigh Ann Wells, Appalachian News-Express, July 30, 2006

The residents of Lick Creek, Rawl, Merrimac and Sprigg have waited for years to have the ability to turn on any faucet in their homes and use the water that runs from it. Now, after more than a decade of attending Mingo County Commission meetings and making countless trips to the state capital in Charleston to share their plight with any politician who would listen, the residents of these areas are closer than ever to having potable public water at their disposal.

Miles of blue water lines are being laid along the twists and turns of Route 49. Project Manager Sheila Erwin said some residents are within a month or so of being able to tap into the new water supply.

Erwin said it is her understanding that once the projects water tank is installed, residents can begin connecting to the new source. The entire $4.3 million project is expected to take approximately a year to complete, Erwin said.

the project should bring relief to the 245 families who have not had potable water without the use of bottled water and 50,000 gallon water "buffaloes" supplied by the Mingo County Office of Emergency Management Services.

More than 80 families have joined forces to file a lawsuit against Massey Energy and its Rawl Sales and Processing subsidiary and Rawl Sales, in turn, has filed a defamation suit against Smith and Thompson, attorneys at law, the firm representing the families against the coal operation.

A 20-page complaint filed in Mingo County Circuit Court asks that Rawl Sales be made to provide temporary water replacement, medical monitoring, relief for personal injuries proximately caused by exposure to toxic substances, property damage and abatement of public nuisance.

The plaintiffs contend that Rawl Sales, having operated coal mining and processing facilities in and around

the Rawl, WV, area for at least 40 years, contaminated the areas watershed through operation of a large slurry impoundment

The plaintiffs claim that the coal company drilled and operated a series of injection wells into which slurry and other toxic materials were pumped and also conducted blasting operations in connection with strip mining operations in the affected areas, which also allegedly destabilized various strata overlaying the aquifers.

The complaint lists the presence of toxic substances in the water supplies as including, but not being limited to, arsenic, manganese, iron, mercury and selenium.

It states that the concentrations of "known human carcinogens" and toxins in the drilled water supply have rendered the plaintiffs property virtually worthless; caused cancers, maladies and injuries; makes necessary the need for residents to undergo periodic medical monitoring to screen for the health threats presented by said carcinogens; and that the plaintiffs have all contracted and are suffering from "dread diseases and maladies" including kidney stones, kidney failure, gall stones, kidney cancer, liver cancer, colitis, painful urination and chronic diarrhea, among others.

The complaint alleges that people living in the affected areas need periodic diagnostic medical examinations different from what would be prescribed in the absence of exposure. The case is set for a jury trial on Nov. 6.