CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Freedom chemical spill drew international attention, but researchers said it is hardly unique, since coal mining and processing have damaged West Virginia's drinking water for years in ways often ignored before now. One study quoted by the Associated Press (AP) found that water supplies in coalfield counties are seven times more likely to exceed safe limits than those in non-coal counties.

Rob Goodwin, technical analyst, West Virginia C.A.R.E. (Citizen Action for Real Enforcement) campaign, said he is constantly investigating complaints from homeowners whose well or spring water has been affected. Goodwin charged that most officials are ignoring what is a huge problem.

"Hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes are in the southern part of the state, where people had problems with the water source they had," he said, "largely due to the impacts of mining."

Goodwin recalled that one homeowner near Coal River Mountain called them because his coffee "looked funny." Tests of his well found manganese 100 times the safe limit.

Wheeling Jesuit University Biology professor Ben Stout said such heavy metals, also including lead and arsenic, are dangerous - and often invisible.

"They're odorless, colorless and tasteless, so you can be consuming them unknowingly," Stout explained. "It's not until you get elements like iron and manganese, which turn the water red or black respectively, that you know something's wrong with your water."

Stout, who has studied the impact of coal on water quality for a decade, said the grim truth is that the first indication scientists get of drinking water problems is often a spike in illness. And he noted even that sign does not work well in a rural area.

"If you're in an Atlanta neighborhood, and it's sitting right beside another neighborhood that's not a cancer cluster, then you have something to compare it to. But when you have small communities, a cancer cluster could be five people out of a hundred," Stout said.

According to Goodwin, mining made the Freedom spill worse. He said some coalfield public service districts (PSDs) - like the Van PSD in Boone County - have had to join the West Virginia American Water system.

"They got their water out of the Pond Fork of the Coal River. I wouldn't drink water out of that because of the amount of coal slurry and coal waste upstream, in the Pond Fork watershed," he warned.

The industry has argued that it operates in accord with extensive and rigorous permitting guidelines. However, federal figures cited by the AP indicate that mining has tainted hundreds of state waterways and groundwater supplies.




get more stories like this via email

Chemical plants in West Virginia and other states will be required to curb emissions of toxic, cancer causing pollutants - such as ethylene oxide, chloroprene and other chemicals - under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule.

Hundreds of facilities, most located near low-income or communities of color, will also have to collect air pollution data and submit it to the EPA.

The data will also be made available to communities, which Jeremy Symons - a senior advisor with the Environmental Protection Network - said is an important tool for transparency and environmental justice.

"Not only will this action by EPA reduce these dangerous toxic air pollutants by 96%," said Symons, "but they're also going to require chemical plants to install fenceline air-pollution monitors."

Research has shown that long-term exposure to ethylene oxide and chloroprene can increase the risk of certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer and liver cancer.

Children are particularly at risk.

The Biden administration says the rule will slash more than 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year in affected regions.

Symons, a former EPA advisor, said the rules come after years of work by local community members and environmental organizations that have sounded the alarm on the impact of deadly air pollution.

"There's been especially high cancer rates in these communities," said Symons. "So it's really significant that EPA has taken action and gone into the communities that have not been protected as much as they should be in the past."

A handful of companies in West Virginia - including Chemours, Koppers and Altivia - will have to comply with the new rules.

Investigative reporting published in 2021 by Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica have revealed how toxic chemical pollution has harmed the state's majority Black communities.

People working for environmental justice are rallying today at the downtown Pittsburgh headquarters of U.S. Steel, voicing their concerns to company shareholders about creating a healthier future in the Monongahela Valley region.

Japan's Nippon Steel is buying U.S. Steel for more than $14 billion.

Duquesne Mayor Nickole Nesby, an environmental-justice organizer with the group 412Justice, said the asthma rate in the Mon Valley is four to five times higher than the national average. She pointed out they're being left out of important conversations about the sale and are urging better health protections.

"We are actually gathering to demand a seat at the table," she said. "We -- the communities which have been impacted by the pollutants for decades -- have not had a seat at the table. Our voice needs to be heard."

U.S. Steel has had a presence in the Mon Valley since 1901 and currently employs more than 3,000 workers. Nesby said the sale isn't supposed to affect local employment, as U.S. Steel has said it will keep the contract as it currently exists.

U.S. Steel's Mon Valley Works, which includes the Clairton Coke Works, is the biggest coke plant in the country.

NaTisha Washington, communications manager for the Breathe Project, said the plants have a long history of breaking air-quality rules and facing complaints. She added that the plants keep getting fined for exceeding pollution limits - and even have trouble getting new permits.

"There is no transparency with the communities about these air quality days being bad," she said. "No protections, no resources like air filters, or anything that's supporting residents that are affected by these bad-air days."

Washington added that money is being put into a clean-air fund and a Community Benefit Trust. But there has been no visible improvement to community health so far. She noted many Mon Valley residents are feeling the impacts of either poor air or water quality.

Environmental organizations in Virginia have united in opposition to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's picks for the state Environmental Justice Council.

In the last two years, the council has been short several members, unable to reach a quorum or conduct official votes. But critics point out that most of the new appointees have strong ties to the fossil-fuel industries that cause environmental harm.

Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Sierra Club's Virginia chapter, said there's no upside to the new appointments.

"People who are tied to the fossil-fuel industry are not going to be helpful in initiatives that are meant to reduce pollution and improve public health, to make sure that people aren't affected by toxic air from polluting projects, toxic water from polluting projects," he said.

The groups also have said new appointees don't meet certain background requirements to be on the council. They've signed a letter asking the General Assembly to reject the appointees. Instead, Cywinski suggested, Youngkin should appoint the people whose terms expired. He noted that their backgrounds are better suited to recognizing the social and environmental challenges facing some communities.

Projects are already underway in areas sensitive to environmental issues. In Petersburg, a methane pipeline extension and compressor station are being proposed despite the concerns listed in an Environmental Impact Statement. Petersburg already ranks as the "least healthy" place in Virginia.

Cywinski said it's distressing Youngkin hasn't taken up policies protecting these areas.

"I wish we didn't have to have environmental-justice projects," he said. "I wish there was more humanity in the development and planning of energy plants or power plants, or infrastructure projects - but there are not."

Pipeline projects can cause damage to surrounding forests, which means losing valuable water and air filtration. In addition, methane leaks are already common. Based on current environmental impacts, Petersburg residents have a lifespan about a decade lower than the national average.