Water Quality Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal in Two West Virginia Coal Mines

The report documents the presence of toxic metals in surface and groundwaters downstream from two coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites in Preston County, West Virginia: the Stacks Run Refuse Site Extension and the Albright site. Despite the use of alkaline fluidized bed combustion (FBC) ash, which is often believed to prevent the dissolution of toxic chemicals, the report finds that very high levels of selenium and thallium were detected at the Stacks Run site nearly a decade after disposal began. The document argues that current monitoring practices by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) are insufficient and calls for enforceable regulations to protect water resources.

• Surface and groundwaters downstream from the Stacks Run Refuse Site and Albright Site exhibit high concentrations of toxic metals, specifically selenium and thallium in surface waters and selenium and arsenic in groundwaters.
• The use of alkaline fluidized bed combustion (FBC) ash as an amendment does not effectively prevent toxic metals from entering nearby waters, and these concentrations can appear several years after disposal.
• At the Stacks Run Refuse Site Extension, high concentrations of selenium and thallium were identified nearly ten years after the start of CCW disposal in the mine.
• Current monitoring practices employed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) are deemed insufficient to protect water resources, leading to a recommendation for enforceable regulations over existing unenforceable policies.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2005). Water Quality Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal in Two West Virginia Coal Mines. https://www.catf.us/resource/water-quality-impacts-of-coal-combustion-waste-disposal-in-two-west-virginia-coal-mines/

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Water Quality Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal in Two West Virginia Coal Mines. 2005. https://www.catf.us/resource/water-quality-impacts-of-coal-combustion-waste-disposal-in-two-west-virginia-coal-mines/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Water Quality Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal in Two West Virginia Coal Mines |date=1 April 2005 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/water-quality-impacts-of-coal-combustion-waste-disposal-in-two-west-virginia-coal-mines/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2005water, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Water Quality Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal in Two West Virginia Coal Mines}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2005}, month = apr, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/water-quality-impacts-of-coal-combustion-waste-disposal-in-two-west-virginia-coal-mines/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }