It’s Getting Hot In Here

After coal is mined, it is processed before burning. To keep nasty chemicals from getting into the air, coal companies “wash” the coal but (spoiler alert) these toxic chemicals don’t magically go away. The billions of gallons of water used to clean coal are full of arsenic, mercury, heavy metals, and a witches brew of acids. The toxic water is sometimes stored in unlined (meaning materials can leach into groundwater) sludge dams, like the 2.8 billion gallon dam over Marsh Fork Elementary school or the 132 million (tiny) one that busted in Buffalo Creek in 1972 that killed 125 people or the one that busted in Martin County, KY in 2000 that was 30 times larger than Exxon Valdez

Alternately, toxic coal sludge is injected underground into abandoned coal mines, which are also unlined and allow the toxic waste to seep into local well water. Most rural West Virginians depend on well water for drinking, cooking and bathing, and many face a 20 mile drive each way to pick up water from the store. And yes, that little girl has to bathe in that water. To learn more, check www.sludgesafety.org or here.