Massey surprised at criticism

Read more in Coal Tattoo

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Sen. Robert C. Byrd on Wednesday blasted Massey Energy for what he called "disregard for human life and safety," following the company's refusal to help fund a new school so Marsh Fork Elementary students could move away from a Massy coal processing plant and slurry impoundment.

"Such arrogance suggests a blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children," Byrd said in a statement. "These are children's lives we are talking about."

Byrd issued his harshly worded statement in response to news reports that Massey would not consider a request from the Raleigh County Board of Education to help finance relocation of Marsh Fork Elementary.

The 225-student school, located near Sundial, sits less than 300 feet from a Massey coal processing plant and just down the hollow from a huge coal-slurry waste impoundment.

Environmentalists and some local citizens say the school isn't safe because of pollution from the coal preparation facility and the risk -- no matter how remote -- that the slurry impoundment could fail.

"If Massey were not operating near Marsh Fork Elementary, we would not be debating what to do about moving these young students someplace safer," Byrd said. "This is not the taxpayers' burden to remedy. This is Massey Energy's responsibility to address."

Massey officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening. But in a story published Saturday in the Beckley Register-Herald, company spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said Massey would not donate to help relocate the school.

Massey surprised at criticism

Read more in Coal Tattoo

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Sen. Robert C. Byrd on Wednesday blasted Massey Energy for what he called "disregard for human life and safety," following the company's refusal to help fund a new school so Marsh Fork Elementary students could move away from a Massy coal processing plant and slurry impoundment.

"Such arrogance suggests a blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children," Byrd said in a statement. "These are children's lives we are talking about."

Byrd issued his harshly worded statement in response to news reports that Massey would not consider a request from the Raleigh County Board of Education to help finance relocation of Marsh Fork Elementary.

The 225-student school, located near Sundial, sits less than 300 feet from a Massey coal processing plant and just down the hollow from a huge coal-slurry waste impoundment.

Environmentalists and some local citizens say the school isn't safe because of pollution from the coal preparation facility and the risk -- no matter how remote -- that the slurry impoundment could fail.

"If Massey were not operating near Marsh Fork Elementary, we would not be debating what to do about moving these young students someplace safer," Byrd said. "This is not the taxpayers' burden to remedy. This is Massey Energy's responsibility to address."

Massey officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening. But in a story published Saturday in the Beckley Register-Herald, company spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said Massey would not donate to help relocate the school.

"Massey pays millions of dollars in taxes each year that are available for projects such as this," Gillenwater told the newspaper. "In fact, just the mines in the Marsh Fork area pay nearly $5 million per month in severance, property and other state taxes."

That $5 million figure was the price that school board members had estimated for building a new school.

Marsh Fork's location has been debated before state environmental boards and in the courts, the subject of a four-year battle between citizen groups, Massey and the state Department of Environmental Protection. The simmering controversy increased in July 2005, after The Charleston Gazette revealed that DEP had approved permits for a new coal silo at the site, despite the fact that company permit maps showed the silo off the legal mining boundary.

Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court cleared the way for that silo. Justices ruled that an on-the-ground permit marker, not the maps submitted for public review to DEP, were the official permit boundary. And in June, Marsh Fork was the site of a huge anti-mountaintop removal protest where actress Daryl Hannah and NASA climate scientist James Hansen were arrested.

Slurry impoundments like the one Massey operates near Marsh Fork Elementary have been a major concern for coalfield residents for decades, since the February 1972 collapse at Buffalo Creek in Logan County killed 125 people. Six years before Buffalo Creek, a similar disaster in Aberfan, Wales, killed 144 people, including 116 students at Pantglas Junior School, located just down the mountain from the failed mining waste dam.

"Let me be clear about one thing -- this is not about the coal industry or their hard-working miners," Byrd said. "This is about companies that blatantly disregard human life and safety because of greed. That is never acceptable."

Byrd added, "At a time when coal is under such close scrutiny, coal companies operating in West Virginia should be working together to put their best foot forward.

"For the sake of the entire coal industry, Massey Energy should strive to be a better and more responsible corporate citizen," Byrd said.

And in language that played on the name of Massey Energy Don Blankenship's former political action group, Byrd concluded, "And for the sake of the kids, they should address these serious environmental concerns at Marsh Fork Elementary immediately."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.