And then, the phone rang.
After gaining a Facebook following and the attention of the media and a local state lawmaker, Mount Olivet residents who live in close proximity to the Cunningham Hollow Slurry Impound has been contacted by an official with the American Consolidated Natural Resources.
Tommy Joseph is one of those residents, and after appearing on River Talk’s “Novotney Now” radio show and in an article on LEDE News, a managing engineer with ACNR called late last week. The company’s slurry pond facility is located at the end of Allendale Road and is where ACNR stores liquid mine waste, crushed rock, and coal ash before it is capped and filtered over an extended period of time.
“We had a really good talk with a regional engineering manager from the coal company, and he’s invited us to a meeting and to take a tour of the facility,” Joseph reported. “Our meeting and tour will be with Paul McGee from ACNR, and Del. Jeff Stephens (R-6) and (resident) Mark Yunke will be with me, and I think it will be a good start to an important conversation.
“When we take the tour later this week, I know I’ll see the same things I can see from the outside, and from the drone photos that have been taken recently, but Paul said he is going to lay it all out and explain the operations of the facility,” he said. “He said we’ll see the inspection reports, and he’ll also explain the company’s plan for the impound for the next five years, and they also talked about possibly putting some vegetation on this pile to make it look better.”
For many years, the Cunningham Hollow Slurry Impoundment appeared as an off-limits-yet-attractive lake, and traffic to the facility was light, but once W.Va. Del. Stephens learned of the alarming changes at the impoundment, he immediately made contact with coal company’s officials last week.
“I was happy to hear back from the folks at ACNR so quickly,” Stephens explained. “Once they agreed for everyone to meet, they asked for contact information for the neighborhood group so they could set up the meeting with them and a couple of the engineers that work on the impound.
“I explained to my contact with ACNR that the residents were concerned with possible seepage, the growth of the walls around the pond, the air quality, and about the issues with the traffic on Allendale Road. That’s where we are now and I’m really happy that the residents will have their chance to get a better understanding about the facility.”
This Is How You Do It
The majority of the residents living along Allendale Road, Virginia Park Road, Pin Oak Drive, Foxfire Drive, and Bidka Lane have owned their respective properties for several years, and Joseph insists all was fine until about three years ago.
That’s when, without warning, the traffic increased significantly and the gob pile’s walls began to grow higher than ever before.
That’s why he and Yunke will present McGee with the following talking points:
- Provide residents with current operating and site-modification permits, along with an updated Emergency Action Plan that identifies the families affected on the upstream side of the impoundment.
- Identify and establish an alternate access route to and from the impoundment.
- Implement dust-control measures, including the use of water trucks during dry conditions.
- Restrict noise-generating activities to daytime hours.
“It’s just not a safe environment on Allendale Road, that’s for sure, but it’s also a big concern for all of the residents that live nearby,” Joseph insisted. “If we could eliminate that traffic, it’d be safe for all of the kids that live in the neighborhood – and there’s a lot of them.
“I know it’s been said that there may be only five years left for the impound to be used, but they’re going to be in charge of the place for a lot of years after the thing closes,” he said. “They can’t just cap it and be done. That’s not how it works, so a new access road might make sense to them.”
Stephens has represented the 6th House District since his appointment to the House of Delegates in October 2023, and while he was re-elected the following year, the Sherrard Middle School educator was defeated in the closed Republican Primary in May by a silent newcomer thanks to a smear campaign orchestrated by political action committees reportedly linked to W.Va. Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Stephens, however, has continued working for his district’s residents.
“A big part of the job is constituent services, so when I started to see the coverage and the posts on Facebook, and then I went on the radio about it, I made some calls, and here we are,” Stephens explained. “Once I spoke with my contacts as the delegate that represents the residents, the information went up the chain and now the residents will meet with ACNR officials.
“It’s important to remember that these residents are not anti-coal,” the lawmaker said. “They support coal just like most West Virginians do, but they also want their families and neighbors to be safe at the same time. So, let’s begin this important conversation and see where it goes.”
Joseph admits he didn’t expect his voice to be heard.
“In all honesty, when we all started talking about the growth of the walls the past three years, I didn’t think we’d ever get to where we are today with a meeting scheduled with the company,” he admitted. “But then we got a lot of radio time and media coverage, and then (W.Va. Delegate) Jeff Stephens contacted us and started making contacts.
“The company never returned our calls,” he added, “but Jeff got through to ACNR and we’re very appreciative of his work.”
