We recently reported Nally and Hamilton Enterprises Inc. may have to pay fines for falsifying water-pollution data from its strip mines in Eastern Kentucky. Now the firm faces more legal trouble as more than 70 residents near a mine have sued, alleging "improper surface mining practices" resulting in flooding that killed a man and destroyed numerous homes, Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. (Estep photo)The suit claims the company "did not properly reclaim its mine and failed to keep drainage ponds cleaned out," Estep reports. With less holding capacity, excess water could have run off-site during heavy rainfall June 20. Homes were washed off their foundations and others coated with mud.
The suit, seeking unspecified compensation, also suggests negligence and reckless conduct by the company led to the death of Donnie Joe Pate, 55, who was swept from his mobile home during the flooding, Estep reports. His mother Wilma Ruth Pate Hamilton, 79, was injured. Jack Spadaro, former federal mining official and consultant on the lawsuit told Estep, this appears to be the first Kentucky claim alleging surface mining flooding led directly to a death. This complaint is one of several suits blaming mining companies for excessive flooding in Eastern Kentucky. (Read more)
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