The West Virginia Rural Health Research Center has been meeting with members of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University to collaborate on research in the state of West Virginia on the effects of coal mining on public health in rural communities. This past weekend the Duke group traveled to Beckley, West Virginia to tour several sites in the southern WV coalfields with WVRHRC staff. The purpose of the trip was to give the group a general idea of the lay of the land and to get preliminary samples of soil, water, and sediment from various public access points. Duke and WVU will continue to work together to create overlay maps showing where the samples were taken in conjunction with watershed and community data to identify where to do further follow-up community health environmental assessments.
Watch Sen. Boxer's June 12th Press Conference on Coal Ash:
The Charleston Gazette reports that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection earlier in the year identified six coal ash ponds that were categorized as "high hazard":- Holz Dam - South Charleston, WV
- Scotts Run Cinder Barrier Dam - Belle, WV
- FMC Retention Dam - South Charleston, WV
- Conner Run Dam - Captina, WV
- McElroy's Flyash Dam - Eureka, WV
- Scary Creek Impoundment - Scary, WV
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet has it's own rating system that considers four coal ash ponds in the state to be high hazard. In the same report, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management declined to comment on whether any of the coal ash ponds in Indiana were on the EPA list.
To follow the recovery process of a coal ash pond that has failed view the Tennessee Valley Authority's page on the Kingston Ash Slide.UPDATE (2009-07-07): EPA releases locations of impoundments.
The US EPA awarded $48.8 million to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to help finance many overdue wastewater projects that are essential to protecting the health of the people and environment of West Virginia. This award is part of a larger program signed by President Obama in February. This program, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, provides low-interest loans for water quality protection projects for wastewater treatment, non-point source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management. This project will be important for a state with many rural communities that have never had proper wastewater treatment systems.
For more information about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, visit http://www.epa.gov/recovery.
The four groups recieving funds are:The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a total of $1 million to four communities in northern West Virginia to assess, clean up and revitalize former industrial and commercial sites.
The Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center (NBAC) at West Virginia University has been helping these communities identify projects and to find funding sources to address the problems associated with these sites. These grants will help turn problem properties, known as "brownfields," into productive community assets.
