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NEWS BRIEFS
WVU report on coal slurry health risks due Dec. 31
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The Bureau for Public Health is paying West Virginia University $221,000 to determine by year’s end whether pumping coal slurry underground threatens human health.
The findings could help legislators and regulators determine whether a temporary ban on new injection sites should be permanent.
The Department of Environmental Protection issued a report last month that failed to link coal slurry injection to tainted groundwater supplies. But the DEP could not answer many questions about whether the practice is potentially dangerous to aquifers and wells.
Under the contract, WVU agrees to form an expert review panel, gather information from a diverse array of sources and explain how injection into worked-out mines compares to other slurry disposal methods.
