Residents Allege Damage to Water Supplies from Coal Slurry

The Associated Press reports that residents of Prenter in Boone County have filed suit against Massey Energy and other coal companies for allegedly poisoning their water supplies. The lawsuit states that the damage is caused by slurry, pumped from coal prep plants into underground mining voids, although that does not seem to be established yet from the scientists that were interviewed, or the DEP. These allegations are common in southern West Virginia, where water sources are often bad or unreliable regardless of mining. With luck, some of the Obama infrastructure stimulus will go to providing water lines to these people.

For those of you who are not from West Virginia and follow the hyperlink, please note that Prenter is not where the Google map indicates. That's Morgantown, where the story was filed. Boone County is in Southern West Virginia.