Massey Wants to Know How $35M West Virginia Settlement Became Public

Lawyers for Massey Energy Co. want to know who violated the confidentiality of a $35 million settlement agreement reached with hundreds of West Virginia residents who say the mining company poisoned their wells with coal slurry.

In a motion filed in Ohio County Circuit Court, Massey and its Rawl Sales & Processing subsidiary demand the plaintiffs’ lawyers turn over “a true and exact copy” of all correspondence sent to notify their clients of the deal.

“Inspection of the correspondence is necessary to determine whether plaintiffs’ counsel took adequate steps to ensure that the terms of the order were not violated,” Massey lawyers wrote, “and to determine what sanctions may be appropriate.”

The motion also asks the court to “pursue whatever investigation may be necessary to identify the individuals responsible” for the breach.

Circuit Judge James Mazzone, who heads a panel of judges handling the case, has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 23 at the Kanawha County Courthouse in Charleston.

Massey is now owned by Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources.

“While Rawl Sales and Massey have consistently honored the confidentiality agreement, it’s apparent the others might not have,” Alpha spokesman Ted Pile said. “Clearly this is justification for the judge to investigate how the terms of the agreement we had were violated.”

Last week, The Associated Press obtained a copy of a letter that had been sent to more than 500 plaintiffs whose cases were to be tried starting in August.

That letter explained that Massey had offered $35 million to settle the 7-year-old lawsuit, in addition to the $5 million it had previously agreed to put into a medical monitoring fund.

The letter did not say how much the lawyers have requested in fees and expenses. Nor did it reveal how much each plaintiff would receive. Rather, it said “an independent, neutral person” will help decide how funds are allocated.

The second sentence of the letter, dated Aug. 5, says in bold-faced type, “The settlement amount and other terms are confidential and not to be discussed with anyone not a party to the case.”

The settlement was reached on July 27, after a third attempt by two judges serving on the state’s Mass Litigation Panel. Three other judges, led by Mazzone, had been simultaneously preparing to begin a series of trials.

Initially, some 700 people sued Massey, claiming it contaminated their aquifer and wells by pumping 1.4 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry into worked-out underground mines between 1978 and 1987.

Slurry is created when coal is washed to help it burn more cleanly. The residents say it seeped out of the old mine workings and into their aquifer, poisoning their well water and causing ailments ranging from learning disabilities to cancer.

For decades, coal companies in Appalachia have injected slurry into worked-out mines as a cheap alternative to dams and other systems that can safely store or treat it. The industry claims underground injection is safe, but critics say slurry leaches into water tables through natural and man-made cracks in the earth.

The plaintiffs are now mostly served by a public water system, but they argue that chronic exposure to metals and chemicals are to blame for birth defects and other health problems.