W.Va. Resident Takes Coal Ash Concerns to Congress
Charleston Gazette
14 April 2011
By Ken Ward Jr.
The Little Blue Dam near Hookstown, Pa., is in Pennsylvania, but the
associated lake actually crosses the border into West Virginia.
Earlier today, the House Committee and Energy and Congress held a
hearing on West Virginia GOP Rep. David McKinley’s bill to block the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing new rules to
protect public health and the environment from toxic coal ash.
Ironically, one of the witnesses at the hearing was one of Rep.
McKinley’s constituents. Curtis Havens of Chester, W.Va., was with a
group of citizens from around the coalfields who traveled to Washington
to lobby for tougher restrictions on coal-ash handling and disposal.
Here’s what Mr. Havens had to say at the hearing:
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is
Curt Havens and I live in Chester, West Virginia, 1,584 feet from the
nearest finger of Little Blue Run unlined coal ash impoundment. Our
home is 100 feet below the elevation of the impoundment.
In 1974, a Bruce Mansfield representative knocked at our door and
handed me and my wife a beautiful laid out plan of a recreational place
that would have hiking, bike trails, fishing and a place to spend time
with my family. But today that same site is not a beautiful lake, it is
a toxic waste dump site called Little Blue. The impoundment is 1300
acres and 400 feet deep in some places. It has a high-hazard dam that,
if breeched, would cause loss of human life.
We believe the land that God has given us to take care of is being
destroyed by this coal ash impoundment since 1975. The smell of rotten
egg and sulfur hangs in the air near our homes.
And, several of our neighbors are experiencing water gushes on their
land and into their springs – water gushes were not there before First
Energy began filling the West Virginia side of the impoundment.
First Energy did acknowledge a correlation between their impoundment
and the offsite seeps when they met with the West Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) on October 27, 2010. We already
have problems and worry that First Energy plans to dump more toxic ash
near our homes. First Energy will be stacking geotubes, filled with
toxic ash on the impoundment 62 feet high. We worry this additional ash
will push more water towards the seeps on the WV side.
The seeps coming from the Little Blue pond are contaminated. On August
24, 2010 the WVDEP did two water tests on seeps/springs, and the end
result was high levels of cadmium in both tests.
As I understand it, cadmium appears to be the largest single
contributor to thyroid disease. I had thyroid cancer in 2001 and had my
total thyroid removed. My wife Debbie has a lump on her thyroid that
the Doctor found in 2009. The Doctor keeps a close eye on it. My
neighbor around 30years of age has a lump on his thyroid and a tumor on
his spine and another neighbor around 70 years of age had thyroid
cancer and prostrate cancer in 2008. My Doctor told me that thyroid
cancer is more common in women than men.
We have found out there are ten monitoring wells at Little Blue that
have high levels of arsenic, and no one told us about them. We found
that out after reviewing public documents. Even more troubling is the
fact that on January 25, 2006 the WVDEP turned our rights over to the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). This is
West Virginia. This land does not belong to Pennsylvania. I have
pictures of the dam from 1996 and they show the dam full of strange,
blue water … today, there is no water. Where did all this water go? We
believe it has been discharged to area drinking water.
We don’t believe we can depend on the WVDEP or PADEP to protect our
health from the known toxic metals found in coal ash. We believe the
only way to get health protections from toxic coal ash are through
federal rules – and require the states to enforce those protections. I
have concerns about my wife’s health and my health because I have grown
a family garden on my land for the past 34 years and have fed my
children and my grandchildren from it.
I have been honored to serve my country as a Yeomen 3rd Class aboard
the USS John S. McCain (DDG-36) in the Navy. Now I come to
Washington, DC this week to speak to members of Congress and the
administration asking for strong federal protections for my family and
community.
We are only on earth one time. Please help us keep it safe and make a
better place to live for us and our grandchildren. We understand jobs
are important – but no one should have to chose jobs OR health. We need
and deserve both.
UPDATED: It’s worth noting that both Rep.Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., and
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., are co-sponsors of McKinley’s bill.
When he introduced his bill last week, Rep. McKinley promoted the
measure as part of his efforts to fight the Obama administration’s
“relentless war on coal.” Here’s his floor speech:
URL for above:
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2011/04/14/w-va-resident-takes-coal-ash-concerns-to-congress/