CVN Staff Reports

A group of Sylvester residents have triumphed in a state board ruling against Elk Run Coal.

The West Virginia Surface Mine Board ruled late last week that Massey must submit a plan to the Division of Environmental Protection regarding how it would cover a coal stockpile that has become a bone of contention for residents of the small Big Coal River town.

The pile, and others, have been a constant area of protest for Sylvester residents who claimed the piles were forcing dust clouds on residents across the river from the plant.

In Feb. 2003, a group of homeowners were victorious in a court battle with the company, winning a nuisance suit that earned them a nearly $500,000 award. The residents contended that when huge coal piles blew massive amounts of dust over the community, causing health problems, ruining property values and generating massive clean-up costs for homeowners with soot covered porches, furniture and even swimming pools.

A settlement between DEP and Elk Run required the company to put huge domes over their coal stockpiles. Now, the company has expressed a desire to use a stockpile that was idle since the coal domes were installed, and according to their complaint, does not believe they should be required to cover that pile.

The company appealed an Oct. 2006 ruling from the DEP that prohibited them from using the pile until it was covered by a dome or some other method designed to ensure coal dust would not waft over the nearby community. An attorney for Massey, Leonard Knee, told board members the current dome is between the stockpile and Sylvester, and the company believed it would block any dust that might fly toward the town.