Attention is now focused on the cleanup, the cost of which is estimated to top $50 million. William Chapman, a local resident and former Wolf Creek miner, said in an interview that the community "has to band together in unison to make sure the cleanup is complete." He held Martin County Coal responsible for the disaster.

The rivers form the border between West Virginia and Kentucky in this coal-mining region, where workers face the relentless efforts by coal bosses to thwart union organizing drives and sacrifice safety and public health to profits. Of these coal bosses, Martin County Coal's owners--A.T. Massey Coal Co.--is particularly hated. As one West Virginia miner told the Militant when discussing the bosses' thirst for profits, "Yes, but Massey is the worst." Approximately 300 miners work at the MCC complex.

Until the sludge arrived in the creeks, on their land, and around their homes, local residents didn't know the extent of the 72-acre containment pond Massey had built above their community. Authorities estimate that 10 percent of the pond's contents were spilled when a roof fall in old mine workings underneath the pond caused a failure.

In previous years, Martin County Coal had pumped slurry (coal waste) into these old workings beneath the pond as they were mined out. Martin County Coal was fined $1,600 in 1994 when inspectors found a smaller leak in the coal waste impoundment and has received nine violations for similar occurrences in past years.

The waste, which is the product of the coal washing process, contains coal dust, clay, heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, and chromium, as well as chemicals added to help the coal settle out of the mixture. While Kentucky officials claim there are no unusual levels of toxic metals in the water, Inez area residents are pressing the government to do further tests.

"You say it's just sludge--what about the deadly poisons they use to wash the coal?" asked Angie Bowen at a public meeting organized by county and coal company officials. Robbie Gilliam, a high school teacher here, was not satisfied that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would review the results of the Kentucky EPA tests of the water without conducting its own tests.

Another participant in the meeting complained that the company didn't alert residents in the area of the spill soon enough. MCC president Dennis Hatfield replied that he didn't believe anyone was in danger. The company didn't notify the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of the spill until nearly four hours after it was discovered. Some local residents found out about it when they tried to leave their homes to go to work.

On the edge of Coldwater Creek, Carl Scott rented land and raised potatoes for his family, and corn to feed his hog, goat, ducks, and chickens. "Last week they told me I had 10 minutes to remove my crops from the land before the heavy equipment arrived. They didn't even wait until I was out of the field before burying the crops.

Just past Scott's house, the county authorities have set up a roadblock. Access up Wolf Creek is also blocked by county order. The company kept news media off the mine, not allowing them on till a media tour 12 days later. Residents reported that Martin County Coal has never let them on mine land to hunt; hunting this year will be meager because of the sludge.  
 
Jobs vs. environment?
Some Wolf Creek residents expressed their concern about how the question of jobs is played off against the protection of the environment. Jackie Jordan, a local resident and retired union glass worker, said, "People think about jobs all the time but you have to worry about the pollution. The company doesn't worry--they couldn't care less."

MSHA announced October 19 that it was dispatching inspectors to impoundment sites it has identified as "having potential to fail and pose a threat to the lives or property of workers and citizens in the surrounding community." It will present the results of its inspections at future public meetings throughout Appalachia. To this date, however, MSHA has not even set a minimum distance, known as a "barrier range," that an impoundment must be from an underground mine.

A.T. Massey is one of the largest coal companies in the country. Only about 5 percent of its 3,700 employees are represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The UMWA waged an unsuccessful strike against Massey in 1984–85.

Miners at Martin County Coal had earned $14 to $16 an hour, but had their wages cut $2 an hour just six months ago.

Massey claimed $147 million in profits and $1.1 billion in sales last year. It runs a network of 18 mining subsidiaries, including Martin County Coal. The "Massey Doctrine," developed by the son of the company's founder, holds that the company will operate the richest and easiest-to-mine of its coal reserves. The marginal seams are mined by contractors, who from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s avoided paying $46 million in workers' compensation payments.

Michael Fitzsimmons is a garment worker in Cleveland and a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees . Tony Lane is a member of UMWA Local 1248 in Pennsylvania.