CHARLESTON, WV – State lawmakers are pondering measures to address the effects of coal waste on drinking water supplies in southern West Virginia as complaints from scientists and residents in the region continue to grow, a recent article in the Williamson Daily News said.
A team of researchers led by Wheeling Jesuit University biology Prof. Ben Stout tested more than 170 springs, streams and wells near abandoned underground mines and found unsafe levels of iron, manganese and sodium in 42 percent of the wells, the report noted.
Stout presented the findings on October 16 to the state Legislature's joint judiciary subcommittee, which will hear from coal industry officials and the state Department of Environmental Protection on the topic next month, the story said.
Marshall University environmental science Prof. Scott Simonton confirmed Stout's findings, stating there is "without a doubt" a connection between drinking water pollution and the coal waste injected underground, according to the article.
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