Penny Loeb is a distinguished author and the web designer for http://www.wvcoalfield.com , who has generously allowed her articles to be reprinted here.

The tanks tell the new story of Riffe Branch and Duncan Fork. Round cylinders, about 10 feet in diameter, they sit like squat sentinels in nearly every yard in Duncan Fork and the beginning of Riffe Branch, just off Corridor G. A few people have tried to hide them under tarpaulins or sheds. But mostly the tanks are in plain site, large plastic containers with water–which appears aqua-blue–inside.

“It’s the biggest water loss I’ve ever heard of,” said John Preece, a retired school principal who lives about half a mile up Riffe Branch in an attractive house on the hillside. His mother and brother live in nearby houses. At least 150 families lost their water in 2000 and 2001 after Massey Energy’s Delbarton Mining longwalled under Riffe Branch, nearby Duncan Fork, Academy Bottom and Hillman Drive.

Nearly every day, a small water tanker truck arrives to fill the tanks. But sometimes, like a day in early July, the water truck was late, and the tank supplying Preece’s home and those of his relatives was dry.

The water in the tanks is just for washing and cleaning. The residents are also given cases of spring water for drinking. These they have to lug inside, not easy for the numerous elderly residents.

No one realized the mine was coming, and no one was notified that they might lose their water. The entire crisis came as complete surprise. Massey, under directions from DEP, has been supplying water with the tanks. But the source of a permanent water supply is still in debate.

The law requires an underground mine that destroys water to replace it with a supply of equal quality and quantity. Nonetheless, there has been much confusion about how much Massey will pay for water replacement. Many people would like Massey to provide public water for the lifetime of the homeowner or 30 years. This could cost $30,000 for each person. Public water is expected to be extended to the Riffe Branch area within a year or two.

Some people say Massey has offered to settle with them for $2,000. Preece is afraid that elderly people, who may be confused will settle for that and then be left with water bills of more than $50 a month. Preece has heard that Massey is telling people that they can’t take a large onetime payment for water because they will lose their Social Security.

“We don’t know what to do,” Preece said.

He and a small group of residents have met with Massey officials and DEP inspectors. “I told them (Massey) they should just settle with the people so there won’t be a lawsuit. If you get the case in front of a jury in Mingo County, the residents are going to win. People hate the coal companies.”

“I don’t want to relocate,” Preece said. “This is where I came from. I’ve been here 62 years; I was two when I moved here. They talk about compensation for something like that. You can’t.”

The Massey deep mine isn’t the only mining looming over Riffe Branch. There had been a mountaintop removal mine further up the hollow, and it caused blasting damage to some homes. Now Massey is operating a mountaintop mine a little further away–and a new mine run by Consol is coming. He expects people at the head of Riffe Branch will have to move. The community will be forever changed. “I didn’t realize it, when a coal company goes through an area, it ruins the societal structure.”

More than 150 local residents met with DEP and county officials the evening of Thursday, July 12. Residents asked state and county officials how far they would go to help them. “I’m here to stand by you people and will stand by you until we all fall,” said Mingo County Commission president Jim Hatfield. “We won’t quit until you get water.”

“I believe A.T. Massey owes the people a lot,: said Del. Steve Kominar (D-Mingo). “They owe you water. We need to get Massey to the table. We are the taxpayers and we’re not going to pay for this.”

“This is not an act of God,” said Judy Taylor, referring to the reason coal companies frequently give for major disasters, such as the Buffalo Creek flood and the sludge spill from an impoundment in Martin County, Ky., in October 2000. “It is an act of A.T. Massey.”

[Good news- in July, 2001, the WV DEP ordered Massey to provide water for the residents whose homes were affected. See the links to the article]

Penny Loeb is a distinguished author and the web designer for http://www.wvcoalfield.com , who has generously allowed her articles to be reprinted here.

Perhaps the most amazing incident related to Magnet mine above Riffe Branch happened the day insurance adjusters from the mine were standing in the yard at one of the residences below the mine. A blast let off, and a rock sailed over the adjusters’ heads, over the house and into the creek. The insurance company did not grant the residents’ claim for damage from the blasting at the mine, according to neighbor Ralph Preece.

Born in nearby Holden, Preece moved with his family to a house near the start of this long hollow as a small child. His father was a miner, and some of his sisters and brothers are still involved with mines. Preece went into the military and spent his career there. Like many West Virginians, the tugs from the homeplace were strong. He moved back and built a sunlit new house, mostly by himself. Little did he realize what the mine would do to his life. The Magnet mine is on the ridge to the east of his house. The mountains to the west may soon disappear under a new Consol Mine. The permit hasn’t been granted, yet, and Preece plans to protest.

Preece estimates that 45 to 50 of the homes in the community have been affected by the mine and the blasting. One day he found a 25-pound rock in his yard that traveled about 2,000 feet off the mine. The mine was originally fined $1,000, but that was negotiated down to next to nothing, Preece said.

At least one well has gone dry. Others just have bad water. One neighbor has water that smells terrible, Preece said. Another family was sick for a year. Once they started drinking bottled water, they got better.

Last August, a washout came from the valley fill up the hollow. It was obvious to the residents that the water that ended up on in their stream and road came from the mine.

Preece has gotten to know the DEP all too well in the past few years. He has learned to understand permits and how to file complaints. Finally, he said, DEP officials told him they couldn’t do anymore and he should get a lawyer. He did. Now nine other families have joined the case. A representative of Magnet Coal says the claims of damage have been investigated by government agencies. The mine has not been found responsible for any damages to the properties, he said. However, the mine has been fined at least once for allowing flyrock to go off site.

Preece’s next struggle will be against the Consol mine. It will be filling a hollow less than 1,500 feet from his new house.

The Magnet mine can be seen straight ahead in this photograph. The Consol mine will be off to the left and on the mountain opposite this one. Ten families who lived up the hollow to the left of the building were bought out. They each got about $60,000, Preece said. It was probably more than their houses were worth. But after they bought land and new mobile homes, they barely had enough money to turn on electricity.

“I know they are going to mine, and we probably aren’t going to stop that,” Preece said. “The powers that be are going to let them. But they should be responsible. The companies aren’t from the state. They just come and leave. They don’t put anything into the state.”

Penny Loeb is a distinguished author and the web designer for http://www.wvcoalfield.com , who has generously allowed her articles to be reprinted here.

The river runs orange through Holden.

Orange rivers are a fairly common sight in the northern part of the state. The higher-sulfur coal there is more likely to produce the orange water, known as acid mine drainage. The sulfide minerals in coal oxidize when exposed to air and water. That process releases manganese, aluminum and iron (which turns the water orange).

The southern part of the state has lower-sulfur coal and tends to have less acid mine drainage and fewer orange streams. One exception is the river in Holden. The acid mine drainage there is being caused by drainage from old, abandoned deep mines. Until recently, most of Holden’s mine-related problems did come from those abandoned mines. Now, however, two new mountaintop removal mines are starting up to the north and west of the abandoned mines.

Rebecca Hunt has been leading the fight to get the abandoned mine problems fixed. Recently she started a local group in Holden affiliated with the Citizens Coal Council (the national umbrella group of citizens groups fighting for better treatment by coal mines).

Her own house was being damaged by the water draining into the cellar from the abandoned mine behind it. She refused to take no for an answer. The federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act provides a fund, paid for by coal companies, to clean up problems from abandoned mines. However, the disbursement of the money is based on coal currently being mined in a state, not on the number of abandoned mines. Therefore, Wyoming, which has few problems from abandoned mines gets more than West Virginia, which has hundreds.

However, in mid-January, Rebecca’s hard work paid off. The state Division of Environmental Protection acknowledged that the problems deserved inclusion in the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program. This means, she said, that the mine will be reclaimed. However, she is not sure whether anything will be done to repair the homes. The law, she said, provides for buying houses if the damage can’t be repaired. Rebecca has also been told that the river, which has run orange for decades, may be put in the stream restoration program.

Now Rebecca is turning her attention to the new mountaintop mines. On Jan. 31, she hosted a meeting at the school, to which media and legislators were invited. Half the meeting was an explanation of the designation of the properties for clean up under the abandoned mine program. The second half was informational about the new mines.

“Those people don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” she said. Only four houses are within half a mile of the mine. Therefore, only those four were offered pre-blast surveys. However, most of the rest of the community is within three-quarters of a mile. Under law, these don’t qualify for pre-blast surveys.

Rebecca has gotten maps of the new mines at the DEP. She noticed that the mines are starting to join together around Holden. This is happening in Rum Creek, Clear Creek to Kayford, and Laurel Creek as well. “This isn’t mountaintop removal,” she said. “It is ridge removal.”