Press Release

November 17, 2009

Coal River Valley Residents to Speak Against Blasting on Coal River Mountain
Contact: Vivian Stockman, 304-360-1979

When: Friday, November 20, 11:45 a.m.

Where: Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd W Charleston, WV 25302

What / Who: Press Conference with residents of the Coal River Valley
Speakers will include Bo Webb of Naoma, Chuck Nelson of Glen Daniels, Delbert and Judy Gunnoe of Rock Creek, and Lorelei Scarbro of Rock Creek.

Why: Residents of the Coal River Valley will hold a press conference at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation on  Friday November 20  at 11:45 a.m. to speak against Massey Energy's blasting near the Brushy Fork Slurry Impoundment on Coal River Mountain.

The Brushy Fork Slurry Impoundment is near Whitesville, W.Va. on the western edge of Raleigh County. It is permitted to hold 9 billion gallons of slurry and sits above the abandoned Brushy Eagle #1 underground mine. Hydrogeologist Rick Eades completed a study on the impoundment's structural integrity in 2000. It included the following concerns:

• Eades questioned whether DEP had fully evaluated the natural fractures in the roof of the Brushy Eagle #1 underground mine, or the impact those fractures would have on roof stability.
• The DEP admitted to Eades that they had identified 9 pillars of concern in the Brushy Eagle mine, with safety factors of less than 1.5 (a safety factor of 1 suggests the pillar will fail). Eades pointed out that 5 billion gallons of slurry result in over 3,000,000 tons bearing down on the pillars a weight the pillars were not designed to support.
• Marfork Coal Company consultant Scott Ballard admitted that he could not guarantee that the pillars in the underground Brushy Eagle #1 mine would not fail.

Coal River Mountain has also been in the spotlight as the proposed location for an industrial scale wind farm instead of a mountaintop removal site.
Delbert Gunnoe of Rock Creek, says, Id love to see the blasting stopped -- for the safety of the people below there, my relatives and everything. As far as Im concerned, theyre in imminent danger. Nobody, as far as Ive read or heard, can guarantee that itll be safe if they keep blasting. If they continue operations at the edge of Brushy Fork and then get all the valley fills permits for the rest of the mountain, they're going to mountaintop-removal mine all around my property.