Residents press Warrick County to seek state, federal help over large coal impoundment

Several residents used the public-comment period to urge commissioners to act on what they described as a large private coal impoundment near Pigeon Creek that they say could present a long-term safety and environmental hazard.

Norm Miller, a long-time resident, said the impoundment holds what he described as roughly 22 million cubic yards of material and urged the county to pursue state and federal remediation funding. “There is funding. There’s been more money added in the Biden administration to try to clean some of this stuff up,” Miller said, and he asked the board to consider a resolution declaring the site eligible for abandoned-mine-land remediation as a first step.

Jim Shields and other residents described potential slow-release failure modes, concerns about water pollution, and a need for geological data and testing. Commissioners and staff cautioned that county authority is limited when an issue is on private property and that taxpayer dollars generally cannot be used on private land, but they said they would review materials the speakers provided, consider grant possibilities, and keep the topic under review. “If we were in a situation where nobody was accepting any responsibility whatsoever, it would be a different discussion,” a commissioner said.

The commission asked staff and legal counsel to review the information presented, and several commissioners said they would read the 17-page briefing provided by a resident and follow up with state contacts about potential funding mechanisms.