~Hoku a aina
Coal mining-related incidents and accidents that have impacted the surrounding communities
YEAR
DAY
MINING HEALTH & SAFETY EVENT DESCRIPTION
LOCATION
INCIDENT or SAFETY CONCERN
FATALITIES or INJURIES
2009
May
The 19th flood in 11 years to hit Mingo County and surrounding areas of southern West Virginia’s coalfields. Dr. Johnathon Phillips of the University of Kentucky notes: “There is a clear risk of increased flooding (greater runoff production and less surface flow detention) following [mountaintop removal and valley fill] operations.” PHILLIPS Jonathan D. Department of Geography, Tobacco Road Research Team, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-2207, ETATS-UNIS
Mingo County, WV
Flash-flooding
2008
Marsh Fork Elementary in Sundial, WV is located 400 yards downslope from Massey Energy’s enormous Shumate Impoundment, which holds 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal sludge behind a 385-foot-high earthen dam. It is one of WV's largest sludge impoundments.
Should the dam of the Shumate Impoundment fail, a bullhorn would sound, and Marsh Fork Elementary School’s 230 children would have less than 5 minutes to evacuate before the sludge-laden waters rise six feet. The maps above show the evacuation area below the impoundment and the approximate depth to which the toxic sludge would eventually rise – 15 feet at the school.Sundial, WV
Community Safety Concern
2004
8/20
A bulldozer widening a road at a mine site started a half-ton rock rolling toward the Davidsons’ house 649 feet below. The stone crashed through the side of the house and two interior walls and killed Jeremy Davidson before stopping against his big brother Zachary’s bed. Jeremy’s death convinced Virginia’s General Assembly to toughen state mine safety laws. A&G Coal was fined $15,000 for violating regulations the night Jeremy Davidson died. Now, because of the legislation, similar violations could cost $210,000. The new laws also require plans to protect people living in areas that could be hit by mining debris.
Gate City, VA
Blasting and flyrock at a “finger ridge removal” operation
1
2003
In a 2003 Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, the EPA reports that “stream chemistry monitoring efforts show significant increases in conductivity, hardness, sulfate, and selenium concentrations downstream of [mountaintop removal] operations.” These contaminated headwaters are the origin of drinking water resources for millions of people in major downstream American cities.
Coal slurry, a byproduct of washing and processing coal with water and chemicals, is highly toxic and can leach into groundwater supplies. Up to sixty different chemicals are used to wash coal, not to mention the heavy metals naturally present in the coal. Communities near mountaintop removal sites frequently experience contamination of their drinking water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that iron and manganese concentrations surpass drinking water guidelines in at least 40% of wells in the Appalachian Plateau, and in about 70% of the wells near reclaimed surface coal mines of the region.Prenter Hollow, WV
Stevens, Wise County, VADrinking water contamination
300 residents sue nine coal companies for major health issues, even deaths
2000
More than 300 million gallons of toxic sludge spills into tributaries of the Big Sandy River. The disaster—nearly 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez spill— killed virtually all aquatic life for 70 miles downstream. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called it the worst environmental disaster east of the Mississippi.
Martin County, KY
Impoundment failure
1972
According to the West Virginia Division of Culture & History, (WVDCH) a 15-20 foot wave leveled town after town, moving an estimated 7 feet per second.
Buffalo Creek Hollow, WV
Impoundment failure
118 downstream residents killed; over 4,000 homeless
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