This article originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

January 27, 2004

Massey Spill sends blackwater into Logan stream

By Ken Ward Jr.
STAFF WRITER

Polluted water from a Massey Energy Inc. preparation plant poured into a Logan County stream Monday afternoon.

It was the third time the operation has been cited for similar violations in the last nine months, according to state Department of Environmental Protection records.

About 1 1/2 miles of Rum Creek were discolored, and the polluted water emptied into the Guyandotte River downstream, said Joe Hager, an inspector supervisor at the DEP Division of Mining and Reclamation’s Logan Field Office.

The blackwater overflowed from a thickener vat, into adjacent sediment control pounds and into the stream.

“It certainly was ugly,” Hager said.

He said that Massey workers were running water through a frozen slurry line to try to clear the line. The pipeline burst, and water backed up into the thickener vat, which overflowed, Hager said.

Roger Gibson, who lives nearby along Rum Creek, said that residents are tired of the spills.

“It’s pouring black,” Gibson said. “It’s got the Guyandotte flowing black.”

A spokesman for Massey Energy could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Richmond, Va.-based coal giant has been under fire from citizens and regulators for several years over a string of slurry spills and other pollution violations.

Last year, two Massey subsidiaries — Independence Coal Co. and Omar Mining Co. — each paid $200,000 fines after being charged with criminal Clean Water Act violations for blackwater spills in Boone County.

Monday’s spill occurred at a preparation plan that Massey subsidiary Bandmill Coal operates along Rum Creek, southeast of Logan.

DEP inspectors cited Bandmill on May 28, 2003, and again on Jan. 5, 2004, for blackwater spills, the agency records showed.

Hager said that the third violation in a 12-month period would prompt DEP inspectors to consider whether Bandmill’s permit should be suspended or revoked.

Also, Hager said that a similar review is pending for another Bandmill permit, covering a nearby coal waste disposal area that was repeatedly cited by state inspectors.

Next month, DEP lawyers will be at the state Supreme Court in a case over agency efforts to suspend another Massey permit for a series of environmental violations. The Raleigh County Circuit Court overturned the permit suspension for Massey subsidiary Marfork Coal Co. DEP has appealed.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.