A research team from Eastern Kentucky University and citizen groups have pushed for the state to take part in a West Virginia system for tracking coal impoundments.

Coal Impoundment Location and Warning System Web site has been designed to identify coal impoundments in West Virginia, alert residents of emergency situations and related evacuation plans, improve safety and examine alternatives for impounding coal waste and sludge.

The site currently has evacuation plans and emergency numbers for 25 of West Virginia’s impoundments, and aims to catalogue approximately 135.

Currently Kentucky does not require coal companies to file emergency response plans and some senators have raised concerns of the potential cost to coal companies if they had to comply with new regulations.

"I don't want our local coal industry burdened with another regulation or unfunded mandate. I'm all for improving safety, but we have to figure out how to balance this and who pays for it," state senator Daniel Mongiardo told Associated Press.

The web site relies on coal companies keeping the information up-to-date for it to be effective.

The system is a pilot project developed by the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC), Wheeling Jesuit University, West Virginia University and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

The project was based on recommendations from the 2002 National Research Council study "Coal Waste Impoundment Risk, Responses and Alternative”

The project provides an inventory and mapping of active and abandoned impoundments. It also provides the public with specific information about the impoundments in their communities.