Abstract
Mountaintop coal mining (MTM) has adverse impacts on surface and ground water quality. Instances of domestic well water contamination from mining activities have been documented, but possible mining impacts on public water treatment systems are unknown. We analyzed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Information System to examine the number and type of public water treatment violations in West Virginia for the years 2001–2009. Violations were compared between three groups of water treatment facilities: those in counties with mountaintop coal mining (n=161 facilities), coal mining other than mountaintop mining (n=184 facilities), and with no coal mining (n=137 facilities). Adjusting statistically for system size and water source, there were 73.0 violations per system in MTM areas, 16.7 violations per system in other mining areas, and 10.2 violations per system in non-mining areas (F=7.21, df=7,475, p<0.0001). Excess violations in MTM counties were most often related to failure to conduct required sampling for organic compounds. Complete sampling and reporting of public drinking water quality in MTM areas is needed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahern M, Hendryx M, Conley J, Fedorko E, Ducatman A, Zullig K (2011) The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996–2003. Environ Res 111(6):838–846
Amos J (2012) Mountaintop removal mining, part I: measuring the extent of mountaintop removal in Appalachia. http://blog.skytruth.org/2009/12/measuring-mountaintop-removal-mining-in.html. Accessed 3 April 2012
ATSDR (2006) Health consultation: Martin County Coal Slurry Release. Inez, Martin County, Kentucky. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, GA. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/MartinCountyCoalSlurryRelease/MartinCountyCoalSlurryHC080706.pdf. Accessed 3 July 2012
Blakeney AB, Marshall A (2009) Water quality, health, and human occupations. Am J Occup Ther 63:46–57
Christian WJ, Huang B, Rinehart J, Hopenhayn C (2011) Exploring geographic variation in lung cancer incidence in Kentucky using a spatial scan statistic: elevated risk in the Appalachian coal-mining region. Public Health Rep 126:789–796
CIS (2009) Coal impoundment location and information system. http://www.coalimpoundment.org/. Accessed 3 April 2012
Ducatman A, Ziemkiewicz P, Quaranta J, Vandivort T, Mack B, VanAken B (2010) Coal slurry waste underground injection assessment. Final report: Phase II. Prepared for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Office of Environmental Health Services. West Virginia University, July 30, 2010
EIA (2012) Annual coal reports. US Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. http://www/eia/doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/acr/backissues.html. Accessed 3 April 2012
EPA (2008) Providing safe drinking water in America: 2007/2008 national public water systems compliance report, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Report 305R10001
EPA (2010a). Safe drinking water information system (SDWIS). http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/sdwis/. Accessed 7 Jan 2011
EPA (2010b) EPA issues comprehensive guidance to protect Appalachian communities from harmful environmental impacts of mountaintop mining. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e77fdd4f5afd88a3852576b3005a604f/4145c96189a17239852576f8005867bd!OpenDocument. Accessed 26 Sep 2010
EPA (2011a) The effects of mountaintop mines and valley fills on aquatic ecosystems of the Central Appalachian coalfields. Washington, D.C.: US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Report No.: EPA/600/R-09/138F
EPA (2011b). Safe drinking water act (SDWA) Protecting public health. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwa/onlinetraining/sdwa/index.html. Accessed 3 Jan 2011
Hales S, Black W, Skelly C, Salmond C, Weinstein P (2003) Social deprivation and the public health risks of community drinking water supplies in New Zealand. J Epidemiol Community Health 57:581–583
Hartman KJ, Kaller MD, Howell JW, Sweka JA (2005) How much do valley fills influence headwater streams. Hydrobiologia 532:91–102
Hendryx M (2011) Poverty and mortality disparities in central Appalachia: mountaintop mining and environmental justice. J Health Dis Res Pract 4(3):44–53
Hendryx M, Ahern M (2008) Relations between health indicators and residential proximity to coal mining in West Virginia. Am J Publ Health 98:669–671
Hendryx M, Ahern M (2009) Mortality in Appalachian coal mining regions: the value of statistical life lost. Public Health Rep 124:541–550
Hitt N, Hendryx M (2010) Ecological integrity of streams related to human cancer mortality rates. EcoHealth 7:91–104
Lindberg TT, Bernhardt ES, Bier R, Helton AM, Merola RB, Vengosh A, DiGiulio R (2011) Cumulative impacts of mountaintop mining on an Appalachian watershed. PNAS. doi:10.1073/pnas.1112381108
McAuley SD, Kozar MD (2006) Ground-water quality in unmined areas and near reclaimed surface coal mines in the northern and central Appalachian coal regions, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5059, US Department of the Interior US Geological Survey
Palmer MA et al. (2010) Mountaintop mining consequences. Science 327:148–149
Pond GJ, Passmore ME, Borsuk FA, Reynolds L, Rose CJ (2008) Downstream effects of mountaintop coal mining: comparing biological conditions using family—and genus—level macroinvertebrate bioassessment tools. J North Am Benthol Soc 27(3):717–737
Rizak S, Cunliffe D, Sinclair M, Vulcano R, Howard J, Hrudley S, Callan P (2003) Drinking water quality management: a holistic approach. Water Sci Technol 47:31–36
Shiber JG (2005) Arsenic in domestic well water and health in Central Appalachia, USA. Water Air Soil Pollut 160:327–341
Stout BM, Papillo J (2004) Well water quality in the vicinity of a coal slurry impoundment near Williamson, West Virginia. Wheeling, WV, Wheeling Jesuit University
WVDHHR (2010) Environmental Engineering Division West Virginia 2009 Annual Report. Charleston, WV. http://www.wvdhhr.org/oehs/eed/c%26e/Documents/2009_Annual_Compliance_Report.pdf. Accessed 12 April 2012
WVGES (2005) Trace elements in West Virginia coals. http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/datastat/te/index.htm. Accessed 12 April 2012
Zullig K, Hendryx M (2011) Health-related quality of life among central Appalachian residents in mountaintop mining counties. Am J Publ Health 101:848–853
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Justicia Rhodus, Dynamac Corporation, for technical editing and formatting. The United States Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development partially funded and collaborated in the research described here; it has been subjected to the Agency review and approved for publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hendryx, M., Fulk, F. & McGinley, A. Public Drinking Water Violations in Mountaintop Coal Mining Areas of West Virginia, USA. Water Qual Expo Health 4, 169–175 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-012-0075-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-012-0075-x