Tuscaloosa, AL – The Alabama Department of Environmental Management says slurry from a coal mine that spilled when pumping equipment malfunctioned wound up in Freeman Creek in the northeast corner of Tuscaloosa County.
Officials say the slurry came from southern Fayette County, where Brookwood-based Jim Walter Resources was pumping the watery sediment into an abandoned area of an underground coal mine. They say the slurry spilled into an unnamed creek and flowed into Freeman Creek, a tributary of North River.
ADEM spokesman Scott Hughes says none of the slurry has been detected in Lake Tuscaloosa, which provides drinking water for the city of Tuscaloosa.
Hughes says ADEM notified the Tuscaloosa Water Department so it could monitor water at its intake, but he says the water remains safe to drink.
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