West Virginia

there are some things that I would be interested in looking at closer.

One question, and in this regard, the issue of the incorporation of the many smaller, municipality owned, water systems obviously were eaten up by WVAWC. And in the Kanawha Valley, they seem to be the only game in town, but it does need to be asked about the viability of those smaller municipal water authorities to be able to survive and maintain the equipment given the economics of the region. It seemed that the median incomes for some of the counties would suggest that the municipal water authorities may not have been able to generate the revenue necessary to maintain the system. Shifting the costs to WVAWC may have been a necessary alternative.

I'm also not sure whether the practice of filling old mines with coal slurry is an old or new practice. I honestly don't know the mining history well enough. But, and maybe we may disagree, but I'm not so sure the the coal companies would have partnered with water authorities anyway, especially if they've been this as accepted practice. In this regard, federal regulations (or state regulations) should have addressed this and if they weren't being enforced, then I would think it's a question not necessarily between for the WVAWC. But, thats just my own opinion.

Not knowing much about this and the coal industry, I'm wondering if the use of MCHM was a result of changes in federal standards for clean coal and it's use rushed before the effects were fully understood?