AP reported that after a marathon mediation session that ended recently, mining company Massey Energy settled a 7 year old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who claim the company poisoned their drinking water supplies with coal slurry.
Circuit Judge Mr Alan Moats, who serves on the state’s Mass Litigation Panel, told Associated Press that he and Judge Mr Derek Swope worked with the lawyers until early hour to hammer out an agreement in Charleston. The financial terms will not be disclosed, but Mr Moats said that as is typical in a settlement, Massey admits no wrongdoing.
Mr Rick Nida spokesman for Virginia based Alpha Natural Resources said that "We are pleased we were able to find an agreeable resolution for all parties." He added that Alpha became involved in the case when it bought Massey for USD 7.1 billion in June and has been considering a deal that would satisfy both sides.
The parties have been subject to a gag order imposed last week, but an attorney for the plaintiffs issued a brief statement by email.
Lawyer Mr Bruce Stanley said that "After a seven yearlong fight and looking after one another, the good people of Rawl, Lick Creek, Merrimac and Sprigg have achieved a settlement. Hopefully, no other West Virginia community will ever again be subjected to such a blatant abuse of basic human needs."
As Swope and Moats handled mediation of the case, a separate panel of judges was preparing for an August 1st 2011 trial. The settlement will avert that trial.
Rawl resident Ms Donetta Blankenship, whose case would have been among the first tried, said that she suffered life threatening liver problems in 2005 and 2006 that she believes were caused by the tainted water. She's since had medical treatment and now gets her water from a public system.
She said "I'm thankful it's over." She added that she hopes the residents' victory sends a message to other communities facing battles with corporations like Massey.
Ms Blankenship said that "People can see that they don’t have to put up with it anymore. I want everybody all over the country to find out they don' have to do that. They can fight and stick together. They can fight and win."
Mr Moats said that "It was a huge team effort. The resolution shows justice can be done and cases can be officially moved even if they are cases like this."
Some 700 people had sued Massey and its Rawl Sales & Processing subsidiary, claiming the companies contaminated their aquifer and wells by pumping 1.4 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry into worked-out underground mines between 1978 and 1987.
Slurry is created when coal is washed to help it burn more cleanly. The residents say it seeped out of the old mine workings and into their aquifer, turning their well water varying shades of red, brown and black, and causing ailments ranging from learning disabilities to cancer.
For decades, coal companies in Appalachia have injected slurry into worked out mines as a cheap alternative to dams and other systems that can safely store or treat it. The industry claims underground injection is safe, but critics say slurry leaches into water tables through natural and man-made cracks in the earth.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has imposed a temporary ban on new injection sites. Last year, a team of West Virginia University researchers advised lawmakers to start monitoring coal slurry, even though they could not conclusively demonstrate a hazard to public health.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has long allowed states to use old mines as backfill wells for waste, documenting some 5,000 of them in 17 states when it last counted in 1999. But the EPA said that includes sites used to store sludge, ash, sand, cement and other materials, and it cannot identify wells by subcategories.
(Sourced from Associated Press)
