|Photo by Emma Delk| Cameron resident Don Stern points out the work American Consolidated Natural Resources employees performed earlier this week to fill in gaps in the foundation of Cameron resident Don Stern's house and install a flex gas line.

Cameron city officials are concerned longwall mining under three flood control dams in the Grave Creek watershed and surrounding areas may interfere with the city’s utilities. Cameron residents worry the mining may threaten the safety of those who live downstream from the dams.

American Consolidated Natural Resource, previously Murray Energy, will perform the mining. ACNR owns the mineral rights under Upper Grave Creek dams 7, 8 and 9, which are the three they will mine under.

The Northern Panhandle Conservation District owns and operates the three dams, which are of high-hazard status. Under the WV Code of State Rules Series 47-34, the failure of a Class 1 High Hazard dam may result in loss of life and major damage to property.

During an Oct. 8 public meeting regarding Marshall County Coal Resources’ requirement to obtain a Certificate of Approval from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Dam Safety Office to make any repairs needed as a result of mining activity, WVDEP Chief Communications Officer Terry Fletcher stated ACNR had begun mining in the area. He said the first dam ACNR plans to mine under is dam 9, then dam 8. dam 7 will be located under the last mining panel.

Since Cameron’s former mayor, Greg Galentine, resigned last week, City Clerk Nichole Bryan has been acting as mayor. She and Cameron resident David Evans, a member of the city’s sewer/water board, allege that the subsidence from the longwall mining may damage the city’s water and sewer lines.

Their concern stems from the belief that subsidence, the movement of the ground surface due to the collapse of underground coal, may compromise those lines.

Evans said that the city’s water line extends beyond dam 9 “about half a mile,” alleging that all water lines in the area “will be compromised” once mining commences.

“ACNR is talking about stopping at Isiminger Lane, which is probably close to half a mile below the dam, and there are probably close to two dozen houses in that area,” Evans said. “Part of those houses have septic systems, and the majority of them are on the sanitary, sewer and water systems. ACNR said the land would drop four feet at the dam at the meeting [on Oct. 8], and if that happens, the sewer and water lines will be compromised.”

Evans outlined that if sewer lines broke due to the mining, groundwater infiltration into the sewer system would occur, resulting in “problems” at the sewer plant.

“We’ve been working on removing groundwater infiltration from the sewer system for years, and we’re making some progress,” Evans noted. “If the sewer lines break due to mining, there’s not much we can do because it will be difficult to tell where the infiltration is.”

Evans noted the water/sewer board spent $750,000 extending the water line on Green Valley Road. He was unsure how much farther down Green Valley Road from ACNR’s proposed stopping point of Isiminger Lane subsidence would occur.

Bryan said ACNR has not spoken with city officials regarding the potential damage to sewer lines. She said the company has made “no promises” regarding compensation if the mining was to damage sewer or water lines.

“We just had our closing walk-through about three months ago for the Green Valley water extension,” Bryan noted. “Some of the houses the mining will impact may end up in terrible shape and will have to be connected to city water if they lose their well water. The mining may compromise the city water, so it’s like we tried to get a step ahead of a problem, and now we’re going to be ten steps back.”

Bryan also has concerns regarding the city’s gravity-fed sewer lines. She outlined that subsidence could interfere with the slope of sewer lines, preventing them from flowing properly. She added the city opened bids on Oct. 17 for a $6.5 million sewer improvement project.

“We have grant money for the waterline and new water towers and a lot of other good progress happening in the area,” Bryan said. “Now, there’s a potential domino effect we must worry about. Nothing’s happening now, but we must consider what will happen and how the city can get ahead.”

Bryan added there was “no communication” between ACNR and the city, and she felt the city was “just sitting here waiting.”

Residents in the Green Valley area near where mining has commenced allege the project has already impacted their houses and yards. Neighbors Lee Anderson and Don Stern, who live in front of dam 9, believe the cracks that began to appear in the foundation of their houses in Sept. are due to the subsidence from the longwall mining in panel one on the project.

Evans estimated ACNR was currently mining approximately 1,000 feet or more from their houses, and dam 9 was approximately 300 feet from their residences.

Stern alleges the pressure from the nearby longwall mining was pushing and pulling his land, resulting in “large bumps and fault lines” in his yard. He reported the pressure from the mining had also pushed out the siding of his house.

Stern said ACNR employees visited his house earlier this week to seal the cracks with foam and install a flex gas line.

“I’m glad they came by on Monday to fill the cracks so I can heat my house,” Stern said. “It was 26 degrees here one morning because the house can get pretty breezy with the size of the holes in the side of it. It would have been a disaster if this happened in the winter instead of the fall because the heating bill would have been through the roof.”

Regarding the inside of his house, Stern believes the mining has resulted in multiple cracks on the walls and floors. He noted he tracked the growth of one crack across his wall, which ACNR filled in this week, since the beginning of September.

ACNR employees performed similar sealing work for the cracks in Anderson’s foundation. Anderson added that ACNR employees dropped his front deck down and added two downspouts to drain water away from his house.

Both neighbors were satisfied with ACNR’s repair work but believed ACNR’s communication “could be better.”

“They did not do any work on my property until my lawyer jumped in,” Anderson said. “I do not want to move due to the mining because it took me 15 years to pay off this house.

“Where am I going to go?” Anderson continued. “I just want to sit on my porch, read my newspaper, drink my coffee and wave at everybody going by. I can’t do that when all this is happening.”

Both neighbors are concerned about the impact of the subsidence that will take place under their houses once the company begins work in panel 2, which will be under their land. Stern noted he would only know the company had completed longwall mining under his house once the land began to fall.

As a former miner, Stern said his “biggest concern” regarding the mining was that ACNR needed to be “way more forthcoming with information.”

“I worked in longwall mining for 33 years,” Stern said. “There’s a survey station every 10 feet. They can tell me exactly when they’re going under my house.”

Cameron resident Dennis Coe, who lives above the dams and owns property below them, also voiced his concerns about the project’s possible damage to the high-risk dams.

Coe outlined that when flooding occurred in Cameron in 2022, “two feet of water” was on his property above the dams. With the flood water running downstream from the dams, Coe believes if any of the three dams failed at that time, the flooding would have “caused a mess” downstream.

Anderson and Stern do not want to consider what would happen if the mining caused dam 9 to fail.

“The dam has been a lifesaver,” Anderson said. “I’ve lived here for 40 years, and we’ve had some toad-strangler rains, and that water has never come over to my house.”

The potential impact of flooding caused by dam damage also weighs on Bryan’s mind. She noted that downhill from the dams sits Cameron Elementary School, a nursing home and multiple businesses.

Tom Hart, Office of Emergency Management Director, called a special meeting on Oct. 7 with Bryan, the Cameron police chief, the Cameron fire chief and the nursing home director to develop an evacuation plan for flooding. The group, including a Cameron Elementary School official who could not attend the first meeting, will continue to meet every three weeks to devise further flood preparation plans.

“We have dams that could be compromised and utilities that could be compromised,” Bryan said. “We’re a little community, but we’re not that little. There are hundreds of people who live here, and this is going to affect them. Our job is to worry about the people who call this home, the kids who go to school here, the people who work here and the retired individuals who have worked here their whole life and now have to worry about this.”

ACNR could not be reached for comment regarding the longwall mining under three flood control dams in the Grave Creek watershed.