Communities, Welcome to Glen Alum Mountain, West Virginia
“They have the audacity to tell me they are within the legal limits.” – Mary Farley, resident of Wharncliffe, WV
Friday, October 19th, 2007
Mary Farley was sound asleep on the couch when a loud blast went off from the mine above her small house.
“It woke me from a sound sleep,” said the 71-year old Farley. She and her husband built the modest white house 48 years ago. After following her husband’s changing jobs around the country, Farley had returned to live in Wharncliffe. A couple of years ago, she had open-heart surgery and has been slowly recovering She was delighted when her son, who works for a builder of upscale homes in Ohio, treated her to a new kitchen floor.
Then the blasting began from a coal company above her house. First the kitchen wall above the sink separated from the ceiling in a 1-inch crack. Next the floor dropped 6 inches in one corner. “I thought the house was coming down around me,” said Farley.
The inspector from the Division of Environmental Protection checked the seismograph records at the mine. He reported that the blasts were all within permitted limits. A spokesman for this coal company confirmed that no violations occurred. Farley is not satisfied: “They have the audacity to tell me they are within the legal limits.”
Click here to learn more about Glen Alum Mountain, WV and the communities that live nearby.
Story contributed by distinguished author Penny Loeb from her website www.wvcoalfield.com. Photo by Kent Kessinger provided courtesy of Appalachian Voices and Southwings.
