Bardstown coal company sued for improper mining practices in Knox Co.
STAFF REPORT
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011, 1 a.m. — A lawsuit against a Bardstown-based coal company claims that the company’s improper surface-mining practices cause or worsened flooding in Knox County in June that killed a man and destroyed or damaged numerous homes.
Nally & Hamilton Enterprises is being sued by more than 70 people who say in a lawsuit that the company did not properly reclaim its mine and failed to properly maintain drainage ponds. The lawsuit claims that the result was excessive runoff from the property during the heavy June 20th rains, washing homes off their foundations and flooding others.
The story written by Bill Estep was published in the Tuesday edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
According to the Herald-Leader story, Martin Cunningham, an attorney for Nally & Hamilton, said the company denies it caused or worsened the flooding.
The lawsuit states Nally & Hamilton had been cited seven times in the two years before the flood for permit violations such as failing to properly maintain drainage-control systems, showing a pattern of non-compliance.
The month after the flood, state and federal regulators cited Nally & Hamilton for allegedly failing to properly control runoff from the mine into Wolf Pen Creek.
Attorneys Bruce W. MacDonald and Paul E. Craft filed the lawsuit in Knox County for more than 70 people whose homes, cars and other property were damaged in the flood, and for Pate’s estate.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate people and punish the coal company.
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