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Division of Water
Citations Are Issued for Four Black Water Spills
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 1, 2005) – Three black water spills traced to the same coal preparation plant have resulted in notices of violation by the Kentucky Division of Water (DOW) against a coal company in Pike County. In a separate incident, a second company was cited for a spill that caused a fish kill in a connecting stream.
The notices against Long Fork Mining Co. were for black water spills this year on Feb. 28, June 29 and July 7 at the company’s preparation plant on Long Fork, a tributary of Big Creek, which flows into the Tug Fork River. The company was cited for failure to report the spill, stream degradation and failure to comply with its Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permit.
The fourth spill occurred July 12 at the Sydney Coal Co. preparation plant on Big Creek. It resulted in a fish kill on approximately three miles of the waterway, allegedly due to the chemical that was used to coagulate fine coal particles and make them settle for later removal.
DOW cited the company for failure to report the spill, stream degradation, creating an environmental emergency resulting in a fish kill and failure to comply with its KPDES permit. Both companies are subsidiaries of Massey Energy.
Black water spills have various causes, such as dam breaks, pipe overflows, pump failures, inadequate pond size, excessive rainfall and poor management.
Repeated black water accidents prompted Governor Ernie Fletcher to authorize LaJuana S. Wilcher, secretary of the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, to create the Black Water Task Force. Secretary Wilcher appointed a task force with members who represent a range of views on the issues associated with black water spills.
In its report in April 2005, the task force provided a list of Best Management Practices for coal operations. The report described them as “practical, preventative measures with relatively low cost and potential for high effectiveness for use by the coal industry to minimize, reduce or eliminate the occurrence of black water spills.”
The Report of the Black Water Task Force is available online at http://www.environment.ky.gov/homepage_repository/Blackwaterreport.htm.
With heightened awareness of black water spills, multiple agencies coordinate efforts to respond to and investigate such incidents to best identify the source and mitigate effects of the spill. The Division of Water, Department for Fish and Wildlife Resources, Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement and Division of Emergency Management receive incident reports and alert the others.
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