DEP: Coal slurry impoundments will require new safety measures - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

DEP: Coal slurry impoundments will require new safety measures

Posted: Updated:
By Pam Kasey - email

  • EnergyEnergy

  • Tuesday, June 18 2013 3:29 PM EDT2013-06-18 19:29:23 GMT
    HUNTINGTON - A new Marshall University energy project will demonstrate hydroelectric power using acid mine drainage from coal mining as its source of energy. Marshall University's Center for Environmental,
    A new Marshall University energy project will demonstrate hydroelectric power using acid mine drainage from coal mining as its source of energy.

  • Tuesday, June 18 2013 12:35 PM EDT2013-06-18 16:35:02 GMT
    As domestic use of coal slows and gas resources expand so rapidly that prices have plummeted to historic lows, the nation's fossil fuel giants are looking across the ocean for a solution.
    As domestic use of coal slows and gas resources expand so rapidly that prices have plummeted to historic lows, the nation's fossil fuel giants are looking across the ocean for a solution.

  • Tuesday, June 18 2013 11:59 AM EDT2013-06-18 15:59:37 GMT
    The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs has published for public comment a direct final rule and a companion proposed rule adopting updated standards for administering and
    The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs has published for public comment a direct final rule and a companion proposed rule adopting updated standards for administering and interpreting digital radiographs for the Federal Black Lung Program.
    •   

In new state policy, operators of some coal slurry impoundments will be required to provide additional verification of the safety of their impoundments.

The policy was announced Jan. 10 with the release of a federal Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement study. It dealt with state Department of Environmental Protection procedures regarding the potential for breakthrough of slurry impoundments into underground mines.  

Where impoundments are near mineable seams, the state Department of Environmental Protection will no longer rely on mine maps alone but may require operators to verify, through drilling or remote sensing, that those seams have not been mined.

And where impoundments previously identified as too close to underground mine workings have been capped and then topped by smaller slurry cells, DEP will require operators to verify that the underlying slurry is no longer "flowable."

The OSM's Phase III study reviewed 15 mines across the state.

The state will begin instituting these measures beginning with midterm review or with renewal of permits, whichever comes first, and will have cycled through all 132 slurry impoundments in three years, according to DEP Department of Mining and Reclamation Senior Engineer Jim Pierce.