MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – February has been exceptionally wet, dumping more than one-and-three-quarters-inches greater-than-average rainfall during what is normally the driest month of the year, according to The Weather Channel. Unusually wet weather is a recipe for mine drainage overflows that can pollute nearby streams, warned Dr. Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University. Expect abandoned mines’ treatment systems to clog and fail or the mines themselves to blow out during the spring, he said.
Recent news by the Associated Press has drawn attention to the “50M gallons of polluted water [that] pours daily from 42 mine sites” in western states.