West Virginia has a long history of coal mining dating back to the early 1800’s. The area, like many other parts of Appalachia, has seen the coal industry at its peak and still hosts mining operations today. Many people agree coal has been good for the region. However, the industry can cause serious environmental effects. Locals say there has always been water contamination in West Virginia, but lately it has gotten worse for a variety of reasons.
Richard Altizer is a community leader and founder of the non-profit organization Mountain Water Watch in Wyoming County. He alleges the issues his community are facing are caused by companies mining under houses without giving a legally required six-month notice.
“They mined this whole area even under my house without telling us. There's probably 400 homes that we know for a fact they mined under and broke federal laws. Once you tell them you got mined under- like Roy’s well, he's going to file a claim- they are going to say the mines are 2,000 feet away but no it probably wasn’t because I just did tests to show what is coming out in his water is acid mine drainage," said Altizer.
Jan Morrill is the International Mining Senior Manager at Earthworks: her work focuses on the impact of mine waste on the environment, community, and miners. She said acid mine drainage happens when companies pull up mineral deposits that contain sulfur. If conditions are right the sulfur can create sulfuric acid.
“The deposit creates sulfuric acid and starts to leach out things like iron, manganese cadmium, aluminum, and whatever else is in the deposit that will leach out into the surrounding environment and the water specifically,” said Morrill.
Altizer said water taken from the location companies say they stopped mining and water from inside people’s houses is testing the same, which means the sources are, more likely than not, connected through a mine tunnel. The process to investigate and fix the problem should be as simple as going to the mining board and filing a complaint but Altizer said it is hard to get the board’s support when many of its members work in the industry.
Altizer has been working with the community since a flood occurred in his neighbor's lawn on Indian Creek. He said the source of the flooding was a well in an adjoining field that was overflowing with discolored water.
“We didn't really know what it was but it looked really, really, bad: sulfur, brown, and black. So, I called a group out of Tennessee to come and test it for me and the arsenic was 38 times higher than what it was supposed to be in water. So, it was a clear violation of the Clean Water Act,” Altizer said.
Altizer said the well ran for five months, eventually contaminating nearby Indian Creek, destroying the creek’s PH level and killing all chance of life in its water. Over the last three years the creek has remained contaminated, still running white from minerals and carrying the strong smell of volatile organic compounds.
Another community member of Wyoming County, Roy New, said for months, the water coming out of his faucet has been orange. He said he has spent over $10,000 maintaining his water filter, replacing stained clothes, and keeping up his family’s health.
“My kids started getting sick, getting diarrhea, severe stomachache, severe headache, fever, I mean, just pop up out of the blue for no reason, just fever...” Roy New said. “Take them to the doctor and they either come up with some type of diagnosis, or they just flat out do not know what is wrong with them and prescribe them medicine anyway.”
Roy said even with insurance some of the medical bill was paid out of pocket.
“And then they are going to charge me- it was $25 for a doctors visit and then according if the insurance would cover it, could cover the medicine, it could range from 30 to 80 dollars for all their prescriptions!” Roy New said.
Roy New spends most of his free time organizing and giving out free water to locals at the community fire department.
Stephen New, no relation, is the lead lawyer in Roy New’s case and in contract with 30 other local families who are dealing with this crisis. He said the driving force behind these clean water issues in the United States is the greed of big companies and lawmakers’ unwillingness to stop it.
“Any coward can say we need to cut taxes. Right? But it takes somebody with some guts to say, ‘hey, we're not bringing in enough tax revenue so that we can create the infrastructure for clean water for generations’,” said Steve New. “You know, it takes somebody with guts to say ‘we need to raise taxes on coal companies to make sure that the roads where sixty-ton coal trucks are running ---don't tear your car apart when you hit a pothole’.”
For his part, Richard Altizer said while his suspicions about the coal companies could prove untrue, a lawsuit with the DEP is the first step to a real investigation by authorities.
“I mean, I know I think I know what happened. I'm pretty sure I know what happened. But to get the experts to say what happened back here, we got to take these steps. I'm not an expert,” Altizer said.
Stephen New said there is hope for the community as he has been successful in similar lawsuits to hold corporations accountable.
“With environmental litigations you can actually ask the court to stop the companies from doing the polluting thing or the violation of law that they are doing or something along those lines,” Stephen New said.
Stephen New said in the court cases for the people of Wyoming County, he is focusing on the loss of property value and the failure of companies to properly notify and communicate with affected locals.
Roy New, a coal miner himself, said he wants to see people treated fairly.
“Coal was the past, the now, and it's going to be the future. But you have to take care of what you need to take care of to protect the people that's above you. Just because you're below them, that don't mean, that don't mean rob what you can, do what you can, to take what you can to get more money that you can,” Roy New said.
More information on the situation is available at Mountain Water Watch.