Read more in Coal Tattoo.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman said Wednesday his agency is continuing to allow coal slurry to be injected underground at 13 locations in West Virginia, despite being unable to tell lawmakers if the process is safe.

Huffman said the state Department of Environmental Protection has no plans to expand a moratorium on new slurry injection permits to the sites that already have DEP permits.

Coal slurry injection has drawn citizen complaints and lawsuits over drinking water pollution, especially from residents in the Rawl area of Mingo County and the Prenter community in Boone County.

Speaking during a legislative interim meeting, Huffman acknowledged a lack of tough regulation of slurry injection and conceded that a study mandated by lawmakers did not get to the bottom of the issue.

"The findings tell us a lot, but they also leave us with a lot of questions," Huffman told the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Water Resources.

In 2007, lawmakers ordered DEP to conduct a one-year study of slurry injection's potential environmental effects. That study was to be followed by a state Department of Health and Human Resources' examination of slurry injection's impacts on human health.

DEP took more than two years to finish its portion, and DHHR is just getting started on its work, which will be aided by expert researchers at West Virginia University.

Now, residents are saying the report is far from adequate and that DEP should have taken stronger steps, especially regarding existing slurry injection sites.

"We are glad the DEP has issued a moratorium on new sludge injections, but we still need the facts, so we can deal with the waste that is stored near homes and protect people from the current injections going on right now, and we need to make the temporary moratorium a permanent ban," said Maria Lambert, a member of the Sludge Safety Project, a citizens' organization.

Read more in Coal Tattoo.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman said Wednesday his agency is continuing to allow coal slurry to be injected underground at 13 locations in West Virginia, despite being unable to tell lawmakers if the process is safe.

Huffman said the state Department of Environmental Protection has no plans to expand a moratorium on new slurry injection permits to the sites that already have DEP permits.

Coal slurry injection has drawn citizen complaints and lawsuits over drinking water pollution, especially from residents in the Rawl area of Mingo County and the Prenter community in Boone County.

Speaking during a legislative interim meeting, Huffman acknowledged a lack of tough regulation of slurry injection and conceded that a study mandated by lawmakers did not get to the bottom of the issue.

"The findings tell us a lot, but they also leave us with a lot of questions," Huffman told the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Water Resources.

In 2007, lawmakers ordered DEP to conduct a one-year study of slurry injection's potential environmental effects. That study was to be followed by a state Department of Health and Human Resources' examination of slurry injection's impacts on human health.

DEP took more than two years to finish its portion, and DHHR is just getting started on its work, which will be aided by expert researchers at West Virginia University.

Now, residents are saying the report is far from adequate and that DEP should have taken stronger steps, especially regarding existing slurry injection sites.

"We are glad the DEP has issued a moratorium on new sludge injections, but we still need the facts, so we can deal with the waste that is stored near homes and protect people from the current injections going on right now, and we need to make the temporary moratorium a permanent ban," said Maria Lambert, a member of the Sludge Safety Project, a citizens' organization.

When it announced its study findings three weeks ago, DEP officials emphasized that they did not find damage to surface or groundwater quality caused by coal slurry alone.

But the agency's report made it clear -- and Huffman told lawmakers Wednesday -- that DEP staffers simply did not have enough information to really provide much of an answer.

For example, DEP staffers said they lacked detailed data on pre-injection water quality or water samples taken over time to reveal any changes after slurry began being pumped underground.

Huffman said his agency is going to begin demanding such information from coal companies that apply for future permits, as well as ordering companies with existing permits to submit more water testing information.

DEP's report notes the agency had the authority to take such steps all along, but has just never done so.

"We acknowledge that our program needs work," Huffman said. "We do intend to address all of these findings and deficiencies."

DEP officials also have complained that they were not able to sort out what water quality impacts may have been caused by slurry injection, as opposed to impacts from nearby mining activities.

Huffman said DEP's slurry injection program has also had a staffing problem. Within the agency's water resources arm, only one person was assigned to deal with coal slurry injection permitting and enforcement, and that person has retired. Huffman wants to move the program to DEP's Division of Mining and Reclamation, fill the open geologist position, and add an engineer. DEP also plans for the first time to train surface mining inspectors on their role in keeping an eye on slurry injection sites.

Despite the staffing problem, Huffman said DEP has not sought any documents that may be in the public record from the two slurry injection lawsuits. In those cases, lawyers for citizens have taken samples, hired experts and developed a lengthy record about slurry injection's possible impacts.

Huffman said he was not aware that a lawsuit had been filed by residents of the Prenter area, despite widespread publicity about the case.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.