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12/16/2004 (pictures)
Shirley and I walked the Far Strips area to look for subsidence
reported to us by the deer hunter. We found the site that we believe
he had seen but we did not get over the entire area due to impending
darkness. We took measurements and photos of it. It was not as wide
as the hunter reported but it must have impressed him because of
the danger it presented. It was 7 feet deep and 27 inches wide and
was cracked open for about 6 feet long. The crack ran for about
50 feet off to the woods and several deep holes were in it. It could
be a problem for wildlife or any human who wandered into it. I called
ODNR and OVCC on Friday to report it. I got recordings at both phones
so I left messages.
Floyd Simpson
12/4/2004 (pictures)
This is the last day of deer (gun only) season for us in this part
of Ohio. One of the hunters nearly fell into a hole in the area
we call the “Far Strips” a hayfield bordered by a woods.
He said it was the size of his pick up truck bed and about 8 feet
deep.
Floyd Simpson
11/20/2004
7:14 AM… The James Kinney main house settled again with a
definite “THUMP” sound. There seems to be a new separation
of plaster along the ceiling in the downstairs hall.
Floyd Simpson
11/15/2004 (pictures)
ODNR-DMR represented by Mr. Tom Pulay and Mr. Dave Clark from the
Cambridge office and archaeologist Dr. Jeff Reichwein came to the
farm to look at the subsidence. They brought “longwall panel
maps” along to compare the area of interest and the mine activity.
It was determined that this was indeed longwall subsidence and it
may have been caused by the collapse of the “gate”. A
gate is a road made through the coal at the edges of the longwall
panel to accommodate equipment, ventilation, and power to the longwall.
When the mine has gone through on another pass the gate or road
is allowed to collapse and sometimes this happens some time after
the actual mining of the area. Their official opinion is that these
subsidence holes and cracks can be filled in with out removing any
soil. That might seem strange but it had to be determined prior
to doing the work as this area is part of the 57 acre James Kinney
Farmstead. If any soil had to be moved around or buried or dug out
it would have required an archaeologist on site to examine the soil
for artifacts and make a record of what is found. This is within
a few feet of the original Drovers Trail of 150 plus years ago and
now also listed as an Ohio Byway. Dr. Reichwein did determine that
if digging of the foundation of the wood and coal house is to be
done the coal company has to hire an archaeologist to be on the
site during this work.
Floyd Simpson
11/9/2004 (pictures)
Mr. Ceicil got the fence up. He said he was not told of the need
for it until yesterday. I helped him put it up
It was a cold but beautiful day. The pasture area now has several
more areas that look like large pot holes developing. These are
not really a hazard at this time but I will have to keep an eye
on them as the grass will grow fast in the spring and I do not want
to get my equipment into it like the haybine incident this summer.
Tonight a bat got downstairs in the James Kinney house. It had
found its way from the attic through the exposed lath in the broken
ceilings. Of course the lath is under the floor of the attic but
that is not a sealed area once they get into the attic which is
not insulated.
Since losing so much of the original ceiling plaster I have been
getting more than a few attic flies and even wasps coming down from
the attic. I stepped on one with my bare foot and got real surprise
at how fast an old guy can dance on one foot!
Floyd Simpson
11/8/2004 (pictures)
There are more depressions and what looks like another subsidence
crack starting farther out in the pasture area. Dr. Reichwein called
to re-set the appointment to next week.
Floyd Simpson
11/4/2004 (pictures)
Mr. Ceicil got the temporary fence put up. The crack has now expanded
to 160 feet long. He was able to get the fence up and connected
to the hot electric fence I had in the general area. There have
been too rainy today to get the dirt spread out at the Pryor place.
Floyd Simpson
11/3/2004 (pictures)
Mr. Luke called Mr. Ceicil to get a temporary fence put around
the long subsidence crack in the pasture. I am still feeding hay.
Dr. Reichwein of ODNR scheduled a trip to see this latest development.
He will be here next Wednesday.
Floyd Simpson
11/2/2004 (pictures)
Election Day, dirt was brought in to fill the depressions at the
Pryor homestead, ridge top and the hole that caused my haybine to
break this summer.
Floyd Simpson
11/1/2004
Randy Ceicil owner of Dirt Designs came out to look at the subsidence
that occurred last winter. He is to bring fill dirt.
Floyd Simpson
10/29/2004 (pictures)
I called Mr. Luke to tell him to please get the fence built around
the subsidence crack as it was a danger to the cattle. I got his
recording. My temporary posts did not keep the cattle out of the
area so I am forced to keep all the cattle in the other pasture
that has been grazed out and have to feed hay to hold them over.
Not at all economical for me as I sell pasture,not hay to the cattle
owner.
Floyd Simpson
10/28/2004
Claude Luke (OVCC), Marvin Dalton (Woodwright Shop), and I met
and discussed the wood and coal house situation. Mr. Dalton and
Mr. Luke got along well. They agreed on the basic principal of how
it should be restored. After Mr. Dalton left we went over to the
cow pasture along SR 147 to see the subsidence crack which seems
to be getting longer. (about 100 feel now). Mr. Pulay of ODNR was
contacted and he is contacting Dr. Jeff Reichwein of ODNR, their
staff archaeologist. My son Ron and I went back to take pictures
in the late afternoon and not only is the crack getting longer but
it is too deep to measure. It may go clear down to the mine that
created it! I put up a temporary post to keep the cows from walking
into the worst part but it needs a fence which Mr. Luke has agreed
to have put in. After he left I was still in the pasture looking
for other subsidence but my attention was directed to the cattle
which were bawling in the other big pasture. They were telling me
they were out of water. It had been at least 2 days since the last
delivery. It takes about 1,000 gallons per day for this number of
cattle and that is a full load for the Deans Water truck. I called
Deans Water and they said they were sending a truckload tonight
- it arrived here at about 10:30 PM. A load will only last until
morning so they will have to double up deliveries. There is no natural
water supply in the pasture now that the longwall has gone under.
My developed spring, a USDA determined wetland and even the creek
are dry, even in this extraordinarily wet weather year. This is
a terrible loss to us!
Floyd Simpson
10/21/2004 (pictures)
I discovered a big subsidence crack in the hayfield that I am strip
grazing for pasture this fall. I have been moving the electric fence
over for about 1/5th of an acre each day to allow the cattle to
get nice lush 2nd cutting hay that I did not have time to bale because
of the weather and being out of commission due to the fall off the
porch. This crack is close to the state highway and is consistent
with the highway (SR 147) cracks in the pavement caused by longwall
mining in July. I had not seen these field cracks when I put in
the 1st cutting hay so it is very recent. This crack is 160 feel
long and looks to be about 100 feet deep and about a foot wide some
places. Cattle have been walking over it and evidence shows some
have stepped into this crack. A broken leg on one of these high
dollar cows and it would be an expensive cost to reimburse. Bueling
cattle are a minor breed and these are breeding stock, I would not
like to think of the cost to the breeder to lose one of them.
I have contacted the coal company and ODNR about this recent subsidence.
Floyd Simpson
10/20/2004
Mr. Dalton came out to look over the longwall damage. He seems
very knowledgeable and took measurements. He will do a profile and
proposal. Later he called me to ask how he would get paid and I
referred him to meet with Mr. Luke about this.
A representative from the Associated Press from Columbus, OH came
out to interview me as a follow up of their national article run
last January when the house was undermined. I showed her a lot of
the damage but not all of it as she had a time constraint.
1:00 PM The Dickinson Cattle Company came to move some of the cows
and calves and the beautiful Buelingo bull back to their ranch near
Barnesville. The Farm Bureau had a special meeting at Barnesville
tonight with their lead lawyer who explained the line fence law
and Farm Bureau's stand on that issue. Also, he gave some legal
insight into longwall mining and the proposed legislation that was
approved by the Ohio Farm Bureau last year at the annual convention.
OVCC had a truck load of crushed stone delivered to the driveway
for the cattle water supply tanks as the water truck is making tracks
in the field to get to the tanks.
Floyd Simpson
10/18/2004
Mr. Claude Luke of OVCC was back from vacation and we discussed
the wood and coal house issue again. He said he had not heard back
from the engineer who had come down from Pittsburgh. Later that
evening Mr. Luke sent me an e-mail which was a copy of a memo from
the engineer and the preservation company out of Wheeling saying
they were working on a proposal. I had asked Claude if it was OK
to bring another local person on board to look at it. I had found
Mr. Marvin Dalton of nearby Bethesda who was a graduate the Historic
Preservation Program from Bel-Tec College in St. Clairsville,OH.
He was recommended by their dean, Dr. Mertz. We have set up an appointment
for this week.
Floyd Simpson
10/12/2004
I called OVCC this morning. Mr. Luke was on vacation so I called
David Bartsch to complain about nothing being done to repair the
Historic James Kinney Homestead property. He said, “Floyd,
I’m too busy to do anything for you!” That is when I called
ODNR and another historic preservation expert who can come out and
look at the property.
Floyd Simpson
9/28/2004
I woke up with much difficulty in breathing. I got a quick response
from my doctor to come in for X-Rays. The lab showed me the pictures
and the doctor told me that I had a number of broken ribs on the
left side and my breathing was difficult because the left lung was
filling with fluid. In other words…I have pneumonia caused
by the broken ribs. My doctor was quite put out about me “at
the age of 71” going on roofs and ladders. Hey, the coal company
left me with all that mess to my home and I felt that I had to do
something! I have a degree of pride in the old place and OVCC had
left it in a mess. I was put on “Light Duty” by the doctor
and had to take antibiotics, get breathing devices and they wrapped
me up like a mummy. I was hurting so bad that the light duty command
was not hard to comply with even though the farm has a lot of demanding
work to be done.
Floyd Simpson
9/28/2004
Floyd Simpson
9/27/2004
David Rucker of QES was here today to check the water from the
springs and wells. The main livestock spring is dry, the developed
livestock spring below the barn is dry, two springs in the historic
old growth forest (on the National Register of Historic Places)
are dry. One of these would give an indication of the perched aquifer
viability. Huge trees like these 400 +year old giant oaks draw from
the perched aquifers that lie within their root zone. I had David
check the cistern (not on the list he normally checks) and it was
also dry. Just last week after the big rains it was half full of
water and now it is all gone!
Floyd Simpson
9/25/2004
This was a nice, quiet, overcast warm summer day. I was still unhappy
that the coal company and contractors had not put the gutter and
downspouts back on the summer kitchen and back porch of the main
house. I had paid my roof contractor to replace the house gutter
and downspouts early this year. The Hughes Corporation had removed
all downspout (and gutters on the porch) so they could put the bands
around the brick structures prior to mining. But no one even thought
of putting them back! I had asked that they be replaced a number
of times but the contractors never had a ladder with them or as
one put it “We don’t do ladder work.” So…I set
out today to put the porch gutter and downspouts on. The material
had just been thrown out in my yard by the Hughes Corp. and I had
to move it every time I mowed this year. Finally I took it back
between the summer kitchen and smoke house to get it out of sight.
I had put the porch gutter and spouts on 7 years ago and I felt
that I could do it again. Opps. I forgot, I am 7 years older and
not as agile as my pre-70’s age. Unfortunately I had a nasty
fall, from about 10 feet up. Landed on my face and chest. I am lucky
that I only suffered face bruises and busted glasses and my chest
hurts really bad like my ribs might be broken.
Hey, this was a coal company problem I was trying to fix! Oh, did
I mention that it broke my nice watch. My family is very upset about
this. Why can’t OVCC just take care of all these problems?
They got the coal worth millions of dollars and now they are gone!
They were being so good to me before they mined the coal, lots of
rosy promises and now they are gone. A quote from my neighbor, Gary
Habig who had his home severely damaged in July said “They
were being so good to me before they mined and now they don’t
want to do anything about the mess they made!” I think that
about sums it up for us too. We surface owners are really subsidizing
cheap energy — How about that Cleveland!! You Clevelandites
turned on your lights this morning and never thought about our suffering
to make life easy for you! PBS will interview me one of these days
and I will relate that for their listing public to think about.
Floyd Simpson
9/24/2004
The Drovers Trail Scenic Byways brochures arrived today. The brochure
includes a nice write-up on the Historic James Kinney Farmstead,
but of course there was no mention of longwall mining. It was done
by BCTC (Belmont County Tourism Council) through a grant to promote
area byways and tourism. Other info on this byway can be found on
www.ohiobyways.com website
and copies of this brochure can be sent by requesting from: beltour@aol.com
Floyd Simpson
9/23/2004
Sandra Sleight-Brennen, WOUB radio reporter came out to interview
me this AM. We mostly talked about damages to the historic property.
She also wanted to see Dysart Woods again. I put in the rest of
the day in the hay fields putting up round bales. I am about done
for the season. Somehow I got through the summer with subsidence
holes in fields, house plaster falling in on me, and two nasty floods.
That plus this was just the wettest year on record and had to get
hay to dry.
Floyd Simpson
9/17/2004
We are having rain from the remnant of another hurricane. This
one was Ivan that caused additional damage to the SE USA and moved
up the Ohio Valley to cause widespread flooding in our area. By
3 PM the basement was flooding with water gushing up from the subsidence
cracks in the basement floor. The drainage put in the west yard
seemed to be carrying the surface water away from the house but
this rain so soon after the last flood found no place to go in the
already soggy ground. The 14 foot trench west of the house was never
completely filled as they had 4 or more truckloads of dirt that
would not go back into the hole. Now it is probably a soggy, water
logged mess down there that wicks back into the basement. The water
was coming into the basement faster than I could bail it out. There
are 3 old fashioned “stone drains” in the old house basement.
In todays world these would be “French Drains” but in
the 2.35’s the stone drains were quite adequate. With the combination
of circumstances of the broken basement floors, the wick effect
from the 14 foot deep trench not totally filled we had a great reservoir
of water that was going into the basement. By 6 PM the basement
was so flooded that the deep freeze in the hall was trying to float.
The new furnace was in danger of getting water damage in a short
while. I could not move the furnace but was able to pry the deep
freeze up and put chunks of firewood under it to keep the motor
parts out of harms way. I checked the deep freeze in the furnace
room and since it was an old fashioned one with elevated legs under
it I was not as concerned about losing it. In desperation I called
the coal company and only got a recording. I called their contract
plumber and they were all called in off the road because of flooding
everywhere in the county where many roads were closed by flooding
and washouts. My close neighbor, Neil Rubel said someone had borrowed
his sump pump but he called most of the hardware stores in the area
for me and found one left at the Barnesville True Value store. He
drove over and got it for me and we started to pump at about dark.
It did not seem to be making any headway as water was coming in
as fast as the pump would take it out. At 8 PM the rain slowed a
bit and the pump started to gain on the flood. By Midnight the rain
cleared out and the furnace room and hall were draining down. I
was still pumping at 2:30 AM and seemed to be ahead enough to take
a cat nap. I was back at it by 6 AM and finally pumped out the rest
of the water. The stone drains were working too but were not able
to keep up with this much water. I called the plumbers back to tell
them I had it under control (‘This would have been the group
that would have had the permanent sump pump in if the weather had
cooperated but who would have thought we would have seen the remnants
of two hurricanes back to back here in Ohio! One report in the valley
said we had just had 9 inches of rain. All Belmont County roads
in the county were closed due to the emergency. The town of Neffs
was nearly lost in these two floods. Pipe Creek road (the original
“Grade Road” approved by the NW Territory Congress in
1801 )was washed out in the lower areas.
Floyd Simpson
9/13/2004
The crew got the barn area and summer kitchen trenches ready to
be seeded and covered with straw. They put in a long, hot summer
day doing this. The big project was to get the huge “step-stones”
back at the cow barn door. I was able to finish mowing around the
disturbed areas for the first time this year. It makes the place
look much, much better. Claude Luke of OVCC came out to inspect
the project. He approved the work Mr. Ceicil was doing (as did I)
and gave him the project to fill the subsidence cracks in the hay
field and the big hole in the yard at the Pryor farm.
Floyd Simpson
9/12/2004
They had two men working today. They got the house yard work completed
and in the process they uncovered several iron artifacts. One looked
like a well rusted penknife and the other possibly was a chimney
top support. Drainage was a concern as the slope after trenching
seemed to be allowing water to run toward the house. It is now channeled
toward the lower garden.
Floyd Simpson
9/11/2004
The yard work is proceeding well even though the ground is still
wet. Most of the work was done on the west side of the house where
the 14 foot deep trench had been dug. They leveled the area and
replanted the shrubs.
Floyd Simpson
9/9/2004
We had about 4 inches of rain yesterday through last night. It
was the last of Hurricane Frances that had migrated up from Florida
and had caused serious damage there last weekend.
At 8:00 PM I checked the basement and found all but one of the
rooms flooded. Ever since the longwall went under the house and
broke up the basement floors water comes up through. I have been
here for 47 years and never had a problem with this in all that
time, prior to the longwall mining. I have lost everything that
was stored on the floor. I had moved a lot of stuff down to the
floor off the shelves before the longwall came through as the house
went through a leaning period and stuff had a tendency to fall off
shelves if not secured. I called OVCC about the flooding. Mr. Luke
is having their plumbing contractor come out and sump out the basement.
After it is pumped out they are to put in a permanent sump pump
to come on automatically when this happens. This might take three
pumps as the rooms are divided by a hallway which has an elevated
step at each door. No problem with the NW room as the longwall damage
broke the step in two and water can enter the hallway easily.
Floyd Simpson
9/7/2004
OVCC had the new lawn service call me today. They would like to
be here by noon today to level the trenches around the historic
buildings. Remember, these ditches were dug here last November and
December and they are still not leveled out, only backfilled. OVCC
had promised to fill and reseed this in March this year. They never
got it done and I have had to try to work around this mess with
both my farming and my personal life even though I have complained
to the coal company every chance I get. Frankly, the landscape around
here is deplorable! I cannot get the lower door open on the barn
to get to my barbed wire without a struggle. The area never was
leveled and seeded as promised and tall weeds grew up where they
just dumped most of the dirt back in the trenches. I could not come
close to it to mow these weeds. The massive entrance stones are
still stacked up in the yard. These need to be lifted up and placed
back at the entrance as they were originally. I do not have the
kind of equipment to do that. I have bale handling equipment, not
dirt moving equipment.
I checked the long subsidence slip that appeared in the cow pasture
near the loess mound and found that it had closed up by itself!
Sometimes subsidence cracks will open up and then close up again.
This does not mean there will not be the start of a slip at some
future time as the subsurface has been fractured at that point and
it is weak. A heavy rain or a future collapse of rocks under the
area could open it up again.
Floyd Simpson
9/4/2004
ODNR-DMR sent a registered letter to confirm that they had approved
the D-360 permit extension for 5 more years. There seemed to be
a number of omissions in their report sent today as a number of
critical questions which had been asked at the open hearing were
not addressed. One question that was omitted was a request for confirmation
that OVCC or any of its co owned companies or any company owned
by any executive of OVCC that none of them were under suspension
or under any violation of permit. This would include any state of
any company the owner has interest in. One researcher had found
a number of violations in another state. This seemed to be ignored
by ODNR-DMR. I do not plan on appealing this decision as it seems
to be almost a rubber stamp process once a mine gets a permit.
Floyd Simpson
9/3/2004
ODNR state director James Carnes came to look at the damages at
Shirley's house and to talk with her about her water problems. This
was his first look at what happens when this kind of mining causes
surface damage.
Floyd Simpson
8/24/2004
Mellot Plumbing came out to take out the valve from the deep well
at the new house (Shirley's). It seems that when they took out her
pump they left part of the line from the well in place and put a
valve in the line since it tee’s off to the water tank supplied
by the coal company. The coal company wanted this done as they like
to think that rural water comes back in several years after undermining
and they would simply open the valve back to the well and take out
their water supply. When the plumbing folks dug out the connection
they found the area saturated with water. Was there a leak in the
valve? I do not know but if it was then the valve could have been
siphoning ground water right out of this mud pit and into her water
system. If this had been a Belmont County Water supply hook up this
would not be legal as no other line to any other water source can
be connected to the county line. This is a law that protects the
county water supply from having a contaminated water source backing
up into the county line and causing contaminated water to get into
the line that supplies other customers. The plumbers are going to
“Shock” her water system with chlorine but first will
take a sample of the water in the tank. The shock should kill any
bacteria in the tank as well as any of the water line into the house.
I am putting in hay again on the Pryor farm, in an area that was
not longwall mined so I did not have any surprises today.
Floyd Simpson
8/23/2004
Q.E.S. took water samples again at Shirley's house today. They
had another “contaminated” report from last weeks sample.
They also took samples at the Kinney house today too. The water
at Shirley's house has a “green shine” to it. It looks
like a thin film of oil on the surface. A sample of this was also
given to QES. Mr. Tom Pulay of ODNR called to say the want to find
out what went wrong. They are asking for samples to be tested at
the state too.
Floyd Simpson
8/21/2004
I bought a good used cutter bar mower and mowed some of the cattle
pasture across from the house. I had to go around a subsidence slip
near the loess mound. Not a large one but would have been a problem
if I had to mow over it like the hay fields. It is not a serious
danger to the cattle because it is not that big but I will have
to watch it.
Floyd Simpson
8/20/2004
Shirley is finally getting better. She is able to do some things
for herself, but she is still not out of the woods though.
Floyd Simpson
8/19/2004
Grant Construction came and did the temporary repair on the porch
floor that had sunk after mining. It is now safe to get into the
house. The floor had dropped 8 inches right at the door, making
it hard to get in or out. I paid for the repairs out of my pocket
and will give Mr. Luke the bill when I see him next.
Floyd Simpson
8/16/2004
I took Shirley to see a doctor at the hospital, they tested her
for coliform intestinal disorder and gave antibiotic treatment for
same.
Floyd Simpson
8/13/2004
The lab report from QES today indicated contamination by coliform
bacteria in Shirley's’ house water supply, supplied by OVCC.
She has been very, very, sick for two weeks now. I am taking her
to a doctor about her intestinal problems which could to be from
this contamination. Both of us rely on water trucked into tanks
that are piped into our houses. This is now our total water supply,
for drinking, washing, etc. We are totally dependant on this water.
I have not had any intestinal problems lately but do not usually
drink directly from their supply, I have never trusted it. I use
bottled water or I boil everything.
Floyd Simpson
8/11/2004
Mr. Jim Barnett of The Oregonian Press came out to interview me
and some of the coal mine people, both union and non-union. We had
a good field trip through the James Kinney old growth forest and
he observed a subsidence crack in the road that was near the woods.
He was impressed at how the ground moves and damage occurs due to
the removal of the coal, even though it is over 500 feet below the
surface. I also took him on a tour of about 70% of the Dysart Woods
but he was running out of time before another interview.
Floyd Simpson
8/9/2004
Mr. Grant (Grant Construction Co.) came out himself to look at
the porch floor. He said he could do it in an evening on his way
back from another job, probably as early as this Thursday. I baled
some nice square bales today.
Floyd Simpson
8/6/2004
I am mowing 2nd cutting hay today. I had told Mr. Luke he had taken
so long to get the subsidence crack filled in the hay field that
I had a new hay crop growing there now and could not let their contractor
go driving a big dump truck through the standing hay crop until
it was taken off. I got a call from a reporter from Washington DC
who works for The Associated Press. His paper is interested in the
Dysart issue and the Historic Kinney Farmstead and Homestead. I
scheduled a time to talk with him next week.
Floyd Simpson
8/5/2004
Mr. Steve Avkakov and Mr. Tim Campbell (structural engineer) viewed
the wood and coal house again. They were joined by Mr. Luke today
also. They are preparing a step by step process to asses the damage,
plan the restoration and establish a line of communication with
SHPO and ODNR and OVCC to get the work done. Due to the constant
movement we all agreed to delay the start of major restoration to
the house and the other buildings until spring of 2005. The wood
and coal house will have to be repaired as soon as possible, however.
The porch floor will have temporary repairs to keep it safe to enter
the house. I have approval to have a contractor do temporary work
on it. That work will be done by Grant Contractors who can do the
work as soon as next week.
Floyd Simpson
8/4/2004
Mr. Tom Pulay (ODNR-DMR) and Mr. Claude Luke (OVCC fieldman) came
out at the same time to look at the new damages. Mr. Luke agreed
to fill in the subsidence cracks and re-seed the field. Also, he
was unhappy with the way his hired lawn care people had left the
yard. No re-seeding or straw was put in the fill dirt they had spread.
Nothing was done to fill in the smaller trenches around the side
and front of the historic Kinney house, back of the summer kitchen,
and around the barn. At the barn the surface was so rough that I
had not been able to mow it all summer even though I use a tractor
mounted finish mower in areas like that. It looks so un-commonly
sad that I am ashamed of the way the coal company has left this
usually well kempt homestead. I always kept it mowed and by August
it would normally be standing tall with flowers and lawn well mowed
and shrubs trimmed. The longwall mitigation work left it in quite
a mess. Mr. Luke recognizes this as he has been coming here for
a number of years and he sincerely feels badly that it was not done.
He has gone through several lawn care companies this year and the
fact that it has been a very wet year has slowed them down but this
kind of mess should have been taken care of early in the year.
Floyd Simpson
8/2/2004
I called ODNR and OVCC. Mr. Tom Pulay of ODNR-DMR is scheduled
to be out on Wednesday to see the previously describe damage. Steven
of Heritage Architecture will be out on Thursday with an engineer
from Pittsburgh to look at the coal house again. Today Mr. Charles
Workman died. He died knowing that his widow would have to deal
with the longwall mine damage to their house and property. Their
farm is located at our south property line at the field where the
haybine was damaged. I could actually see their house lean when
I was working in the field across from their house. They lost their
water and their septic system backed up into the basement. Mr.Dunfee
lost one of his good springs in this area even though it was supposed
to be too far away from the undermining but it was within the “angle
of draw”.
Floyd Simpson
8/1/2004
While putting in hay I ran into another deep crack in the filed.
There was no damage to the equipment this time but I had to watch
out for it when I went through the field with the hay rake and baler.
Floyd Simpson
7/28/2004
More plaster is falling down in the hall at the stair landing.
The floor of porch is worse. I am putting bricks in the hole to
help fill it in so it is possible to get in my house. This is the
main entrance to the house. Everyone comes through this door at
the kitchen and the porch floor is falling in right at the door.
The longwall is coming by on another panel just south of the buildings
this week. It will soon be under widow Mayos’s house. She is
confined to a wheelchair, has a nice frame house and good sturdy
cement block garage. She has told me her well has never been dry,
even in very dry years. I suppose that will be next on the list
of damage by OVCC in this pass. The coal company has had water tanks
and pumps installed at her place as well as the Joe and Paige Hart
farm across the road.
Floyd Simpson
7/19/2004
Mr. Claude Luke (OVCC) failed to show up for his appointment. There
was no message from him on why he did not come.
Floyd Simpson
7/16/2004
The cattle were out of water since last night. I called the coal
company but got their recording. I called their plumber and got
them to fix the tank overflow which had broken off, thus letting
out all the water from the holding tank. The cattle were pawing
at the dry creek bed trying to find water, but alas, it is dry as
a bone now that the longwall has gone through. They are completely
dependant on the two big tanks of water that are refilled by Deans
Water Company. I called Deans and they came out from Wheeling, WV
with a 1,000 gallon load and we got water going for the cattle again
and Mal scheduled another trip for this PM.
4:00 PM
I checked and the new overflow had broken off. The cattle were roughing
each other around trying to get a drink and broke the new plastic
pipe off. I had a plastic garbage bag in the cab of the tractor
and used it to plug the hole. The tank was slowly filling up as
I left. I came back with a plastic pipe plug which I pounded into
the hole along with the plastic bag to make a temporary plug. I
called the plumber again but it was now after hours so I left a
message. I have to be gone tomorrow so I could only hope my temporary
repair would hold until the plumber could get back out and fix the
hole with a real plug of the right size.
Floyd Simpson
7/14/2004
I discovered more cracks in the wall in the master bedroom.
Floyd Simpson
7/12/2004
While working in my office this morning a heavy cracking sound
interrupted my work. I first thought something like an accident
had happened out on the highway in front of the house. When I went
through the hall to go outside to see what was the problem I realized
that more of the upstairs hall ceiling plaster had fallen. It had
hit the baseboard radiator cover on the way down. Another problem
related to longwall is the caving in of the back porch floor at
the main rear entrance. It is a full 3 inches lower at the new crack.
There is still no word from anyone from the coal company (OVCC)
doing anything to restore the wood and coal house which is splitting
and now is twisted on its foundation.
Floyd Simpson
6/24/2004
Steven Avdakov of Heritage Architecture Historic Preservation came
in the morning to look at the wood and coal house. I also gave him
a “walk through” of the house and Summer Kitchen. Steven
is putting a top priority on getting the project going to restore
this building. I am trying to get parts for the haybine that was
damaged when it went into a subsidence hole. The main drive shaft
($135.00) broke in two. This damage to the haybine will really put
me out of the hay business until the new part is shipped and gets
installed.
Floyd Simpson
6/21/2004
Gary and Sharon Habig gave me a tour of their house that was damaged
this weekend. The damage was very, very BAD. The basement wall on
south side was cracked so bad that Gary said he slipped a tennis
ball into the crack. It looks to me as though the house may have
to be re-built or at least a lot of money will have to be spent
for repairs.
Floyd Simpson
6/19/2004
I heard that OVCC is about to mine under my neighbors house, Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Workman. They live on Dunfee Rd. at the end of
one of my hay fields. Mr. Workman is not well, he is dyng of cancer.
Floyd Simpson
6/17/2004
Mr. Tom Pulay the ODNR DMR field representative came out to look
at the subsidence in the hayfield and put flags around it. He also
looked at the wood and coal house at the Kinney residence. He observed
and noted the split upright timber inside the building that came
from a subsidence crack. This timber supports the upper structure.
Steve Adakov of Heritage Architectural Services will be out next
week to look at it and hopefully will have a structural engineer
from Pittsburgh with him. Mr. Pulay and I toured the virgin forest
He took some digital pictures of the big 400 year old oak trees
to send to the ODNR DMR chief, (Sponsler).
Floyd Simpson
6/9/2004
More cattle arrived. They found the other cows that came previously
and they all came back to the new water tank to get a drink of water.
All 47 head. The tank is only 60 gallon and big enough for about
6 head to drink at one time so there was a lot of shoving and pushing
going on for awhile. The tank refills automatically so they do all
get a drink. The original tank I had developed in this pasture held
700 gallons, is made of concrete and is big enough for a herd this
size to get a drink in just a few minutes. Besides, there used to
be water in the creek from the overflow from this tank and some
will always go there if it was too crowded. But now there is NO
water in the creek. The longwall mining has drained 10,000 gallons
a day plus the seep springs contribution. It is all going down into
the void left after the coal was removed, 500 feet down. We do not
have a chance to recover our natural water now.
Floyd Simpson
5/29/2004
Dickenson Cattle Company brought a truckload of cow and calf pairs
and we turned them into the pasture. Due to the lateness of OVCC
in getting water we lost about 25 days of rent. It was good to see
cattle in the fields today. I discovered a slip caused by subsidence
in the field near the original cattle spring development. I need
to call ODNR and OVCC to look at it but do not know that it will
be a good thing for them to bring in dozers and trucks to fill it
which will just tear up that much more pasture grass which the cattle
need for feeding.
Floyd Simpson
5/25/2004
Mellots Plumbing came and finished the cattle water tank system.
They turned on the water at the 4,000 gallon tanks and the tank
filled and is ready for cattle. OES came to check the wells and
springs. A limited flow was coming from the original cattle spring
development but not enough to care for water needs of a herd of
cattle. We just had 4 and a half inches of rain in the last week
-- the flow will not be sustained at even this reduced rate they
measured today. (Later note, it was dry again on Friday and not
enough was collected in the tank to provide water to 5 head of cattle
and 47 head of cattle are arriving.
Floyd Simpson
5/17/2004
Fitzpatric Roofing Co. came early today to examine the house roof.
Troy and Lee put the ladder up to the two back chimneys to see why
the new roof was leaking. Claude Luke had told me it was safe to
put on the new roof and it was done after he told me that. Troy
told me that the house roof had moved away from the chimneys on
the SE and SW chimneys. This had happened since the new roof was
put on this spring. He said it was obvious damage due to the movement
of the house (April 8th) when I reported the last big movement.
The roof started leaking at the first rain after that. The roofing
company is sending the bill to OVCC.
Floyd Simpson
5/14/2004
I called David Bartsch, OVCC again to complain about nothing being
done about the repairs which need to be done on the wood and coal
house. This is something that cannot wait. The building is going
to split down the middle if something is not done soon. David Bartsch
said he has contacted one of the companies that did the architectural
sketching and CAD/CAM work to oversee the work. Steve, the owner
will personally come out and draw up plans for the restoration.
First it has to be stabilized. I told David that this should not
be delayed any longer as we could lose the building due to the subsidence
damage. I got a letter from ODNR-DMR today with information about
OVCC's expiring permit #D 360 (the permit which approved the mining
under the Historic James Kinney Farmstead). A public hearing will
be held on June 7th 2004 at 7:00 PM at the Belmont Technical College.
I plan to have comments at this hearing.
Floyd Simpson
5/13/2004
The archaeologist hired by OVCC called to say he could not make
it out here today. The water tanks are now in place, they are big
gray round things that poke up from the lush green pasture field.
Brown, grass-less streaks lead down hill to the tank the cattle
will drink from. Concrete must be poured yet for the base and the
aqua colored water trough will be set down on the base. The overflow
will go underground for about 30 feet and empty on the other side
of the new fence at the big walnut tree. The tanks are gray because
of the insulated plastic covering and look a bit out of place across
from the mid 1800's buildings and within 75 feet of the oldest standing
building on the farmstead, a circa 1835 corncrib-wagon-shed. Jacks
Lawn Service sent a man to mow the yard where the track hoe and
skid steer equipment tore up the yard in December. He hit a number
of the dirt piles and ruts left in the back yard but he did his
best. I noticed that he had lost both taillights on the John Deere
riding mower during this day. This job was to be done in March,
but OVCC had trouble finding anyone to schedule the work. This made
the job a lot harder for Jacks Lawn Service. This historic old homestead
had become pretty "common" looking, all overgrown with
dying shrubs and piles of dirt everywhere. At least the cables and
corner posts and gutter snakes have been removed but even my summer
kitchen and back porch gutters are still lying in the front yard.
They really look out of place and are killing the grass where they
lie.
Floyd Simpson
5/11/2004
Channel 9 TV ran a story today about OVCC polluting Capteen Creek.
A man was interviewed who said he got his drinking water from a
well near the creek and he had sores all over his body from bathing
in the water. He was not drinking this water but he had been buying
bottled water. The TV camera showed the creek running black with
coal refuse that had overrun one of the slurry ponds upstream. This
is a product of cleaning coal prior to sending it to a power plant
in Cleveland. The washing of the coal takes out dirt, bits of coal,
minerals, etc and is stored in large ponds which are created by
damming up a valley.
Floyd Simpson
5/7/2004
David Soldo, American Archaeological Services came - he did not
know that the water tank area across the road was his concern. He
called Mr. Bartsch and then he went over to observe the work already
done, however a truck load of topsoil had already been trucked off
site. The plumbers needed to level the area and place sand on the
ground as a foundation for the water tanks. This keeps any stones
or pebbles,etc. from puncturing the plastic tanks. With 2,000 gallons
of water the weight would push the plastic down so hard that anything
rough under it would cause a puncture. David Soldo brought two of
his workers along and they dug square holes in a line where the
trenching will go to put in the water line to the livestock tank.
They dug these about 20 inches square and down into the B horizon
of soil and pushed every thing through a sieve. Nothing was found
of interest but at the house David and Dr. Reichwein noted a glass
bottle cap and a section of soup bone my dog probably buried. The
trenching continued when the archaeological examination was completed.
Some very fine pottery clay was found in one area and I saved a
little of it to give to a neighbor who has a new kiln. Jacks Lawn
Service came and conferred with Dr. Jeff about filling in the trenches
next to the house once they are examined completely. They cut the
half dead shrubs down and hauled them off. Mr. Soldo told me that
the "hammerstone" I had given him that came from the top
of one of the dirt piles was not really an artifact. It was all
native sandstone (unusual for this area). He thought it was geologically
caused by concretions on each side that caused the depressions.
He said he looked at it with a magnifying glass to see if patterns
of marks in the depressions were likely done by Native Americans.
I asked him if there was evidence of mineral in the depressions
that would indicate concretions had been there. He did not indicate
that it was but, again, this might be something he will examine
more closely at a later date. I would doubt that it was used by
humans due to the fact it was a soft sandstone but it certainly
was unusual and Mr. Soldo, Dr. Reichwein, and I were interested
in it for whatever it is. It will be returned when the other findings
are. Dr. Reichwein examined the wood and coal house and declared
the damage to be "mine related" and needed to be repaired
by historic standards according to the permit application. He said
I should contact David Bartsch of OVCC and ask for restoration that
is acceptable to the standards set forth and the coal company will
have to pay for all this work.
Floyd Simpson
5/6/2004
A local contractor gave me information on how he would restore
the wood and coal shed to historic standards, it sounds as though
this should work but I am sure that the proposed procedure will
have to be run by an approval committee of some sort. The two, 2,000
gallon plastic water tanks for livestock arrived and men started
working on them across the road from the house. Unfortunately this
involved digging into the ground in order to level the tanks. A
message came in from Dr. Jeffrey Reichwein, ODNR archaeologist.
He said the plumbers needed an archaeologist present to observe
the "altering of any surface due to any mining activity".
I went over and told the guys who were starting to dig and then
I called David Bartsch of OVCC. He said that he did not know anything
about any digging needed and said that Claude Luke had given the
orders for the installation. The digging stopped and the men went
home.
Floyd Simpson
4/16/2004
Mr. Claude Luke of OVCC came to see what he could do about some
of the issues at the historic properties. He looked at the wood
and coal house which is circa 1863. It is a wood structure with
wooden pegs holding the foundation timbers together. The subsidence
has caused an upright to split away. He said he would cover the
cost of repairs. Said I should get a contractor to look at it and
give an estimate. This would involve removing the 15 inch wide poplar
siding at the middle to expose the upright timber and then cable
the building back together so it could be secured somehow at the
split. I'll check to see who can do this but it has to be done according
to "historic standards set forth by the Department of the Interior".
Concerning the yard that was torn up in December by the mitigation
crew he is having Teter, Inc. come out to level out the ruts and
remove the piles of dirt. The dirt is still piled up about 4 feet
above grade at the west side of the house where the 14 foot trench
had been dug. All the fill dirt did not settle into the void. It
is very rocky. This pretty much ruins the looks of the west side
of the house and yard. I have taken some pictures to post later.
The shrubs were ruined by the track hoe and are half dead. They
will be removed and replaced, he said. I told him about the roof
problem (the new roof leaked after the last big "thump"
of subsidence). This is a brand new roof! My roofer has called me
to say he will come out to look at it. I got a registered letter
today from David Bartsch, OVCC engineer, saying that the artifacts
removed from the property are still in possession of their hired
archaeologist in Youngstown, OH.
Floyd Simpson
4/8/2004
After a long time with no unusual cracking or moaning sounds and
with the pendulums at a standstill it was a jolt to hear a loud
noise in the basement part of the house and then find that the pendulums
had all 4 moved and a new crack had appeared in the basement floor.
The downstairs bathroom door has come alive with its own idea of
drifting back to half open when it has been quite comfortable when
closed. This shows that the house has a bit of a tilt again. Also
the wood and coal house has developed a bulge in the middle. A main
cross stringer has broken away from the upright and it is letting
the building spread apart. If not fixed soon this building could
just fall down. It has an original slate roof (heavy) on it so there
is a weight concern. Also, the construction is such that there are
no cross trusses inside. It is made to just fit neatly together
and by the weight of the roof the top of the rafters fit neatly
together by a common pressure. That is until now. The longwall has
caused it to spread out and it will not be able to support itself.
It has been there 140 years in perfect harmony with the engineering
plan devised all those years ago. I also noticed that the step stone
into the building is now cracked in two. But to look on the plus
side....I am feeling much better now that the Carbon Monoxide is
out of my house!
I took the digital camera up on the hill west of the house and
took pictures of the hole and crack left in the hay field. This
hole is big enough to drop a tractor or implement wheel in and break
an axle. Will have to get OVCC to get it filled before we get much
more growth of the hay crop. News on the internet from Pennsylvania
is that some mining operations are being closed due to the mine
not notifying residents 6 months before mining. OVCC did not notify
OVAS, INC. that it would mine under its office at all. In Ohio a
corporation is considered a legal resident and is a tax paying entity.
The mining operation at the end of the year really put a crunch
on OVAS, INC. in getting out a year end order to NASCO for an international
shipment. The doors to the office would not open and the floor cracked
under the desk when the longwall went under. This has been mentioned
and placed in the minutes of the corporate record.
Floyd Simpson
4/5/2004
I received a check today, from Ohio Valley Coal Company, for expenses
I will incur in an attempt to seal up the house and have it exterminated
for rodents. This has become a serious problem again for the past
6 weeks. Hopefully we will be able to determine where openings are,
due to subsidence, so that we can put an end to this problem.
Shirley Simpson
3/31/2004
For over a month I have been experiencing rodent problems in my
home again, due to the damage done by longwall mining subsidence
from June 2003 and continuing. I informed Claude Luke of the problems
on March 8, 2004, at our meeting concerning resolution of all damages
as a result of Ohio Valley Coal Company's mining activities. Subsequently
I called and left a message for Claude Luke, Friday March 19, 2004,
asking that he respond immediately in an effort to get the serious
rodent problem resolved. He did not return my call, therefore I
left a message for John Forrelli, President OVCC, on March 22, 2004.
Following that message Claude Luke finally did call me, at which
time I asked him for the money needed to hire help in finding the
openings in the house, sealing them against further invasion, and
subsequently having it exterminated. I was asked to fax the required
info to him, which I did that same day. It was my understanding
that they would provide the finances to take care of the problem,
however as of this date they have not done so. Evidence shows that
rodents have been upstairs as well as downstairs. The basement is
filthy with rodent droppings. I have trapped some and poisoned some,
which I have not found, causing a strong odor, and there are still
live ones to deal with. When I had this house built it was with
the intent of having a safe, secure, clean, rodent free, easy to
care for home in our declining years. I certainly did not expect
to have to deal with the stress of watching my house be trashed,
see water leaking through the cracks in basement walls during rains,
have cold air entering subsidence cracks, experiencing more bugs
entering the house than ever before, and having to deal with a rodent
invasion. At age 68 it is not my idea of peaceful enjoyment of one's
property. The longer these things go on the more stress and inconveniences
we have to endure. We, as landowners, would certainly appreciate
being treated with respect by the company causing all the negative
effects to our lives. As for any attempts to come to a settlement,
nothing has been forthcoming by OVCC thus far. Building prices continue
to escalate and construction season is here. As time passes, and
the condition of the house continues to worsen, much more work will
have to be done to the house so that I can continue to exist under
these difficult conditions.
Shirley Simpson
3/29/2004
The roofers got all of the roof on and even replaced the black
corrugated downspout that the mitigation crew put on in December.
That makes the house look a lot better. Those thick, black pipes
were always blowing in the wind and looked like big black snakes
slithering down the front of the grand old house. Made it look very
out of place. Mellots hired a "man lift" to come in so
they could hoist the 45 foot of stainless steel corrugated pipe
up in the air and then down through the chimney. I helped somewhat
in getting it threaded through the elbow into the furnace as their
two guys just ran into a tough situation without enough hand power
to pull it through and get it snaked down from 40 foot up in the
air to the furnace in the basement. Once it came through the elbow
they were able to secure it to the furnace vent pipe. They got the
whole thing done today and checked for leaks of CO at the junction
at the furnace. There were none.
Floyd Simpson
3/26/2004
We went to Reynoldsburg and back. Fitzpatrick Roof Company got
a lot done today while we were gone. They have now started replacing
the roof on the north side of the house.
Floyd Simpson
3/25/2004
Mr. Mellott phoned me to see if they could put the liner in the
chimney tomorrow. We had planned on going to Reynoldsburg to be
with our son Randy and his family. They will have to do the work
on Monday.
Floyd Simpson
3/23/2004
A nice day for a change, the weather warmed up and is sunny. My
roofers came back and got a lot done on the south side of the house
roof. They said that due to the longwall subsidence the chimney
on the west end has moved since they measured it last fall. It will
take more flashing material to make it right, Actually, the difference
can be seen from the ground. I am unhappy that the flashing is not
able to cover the base of the chimney on a level. But, due to the
movement they had to place it there so the roof will not leak. My
calculations show a 4 inch difference, that is just too much to
cover with out showing that it is out of level now. My crew are
very professional and do historic preservation contracts all the
time. They did the best they could with the situation.
Floyd Simpson
3/22/2004
No one showed up last week to put in the new flu pipe for the furnace.
The weather is cold and the furnace is running a lot. I try to stay
out of the living room and keep doors open to the hall. My feeling
is that with all the ceiling plaster which has fallen off upstairs
the gas will just go out with the heated air. I can hardly keep
the house warm with this big heat loss. I wear a coat in the house
all the time and have a good electric blanket for my bed so at least
I can sleep warm. My CO monitor continues to go off and the light
lights up. The two that were left my Mellott Plumbing have gone
back to zero and stayed there. I must have canceled out the memory
or something as they both are dead as a door nail. They seemed to
work at first and now are not operating. I do not understand how
to use their monitors as no directions came with them.
Floyd Simpson
3/21/2004
Since our March 8th meeting with Claude Luke from Ohio Valley Coal
Company, no attempt to make a settlement has been forth coming from
them, as there has been no contact whatsoever. The rodent problem
still exists and needs to be remedied immediately. Two calls to
Mr. Luke relating to the necessity of addressing the situation have
been ignored. The continuing stress of living with the many problems
caused by longwall mining subsidence seems to be of no interest
to OVCC. It is important to resolve everything, in order to attempt
to return our lives to a more peaceful, far less stress-filled retirement
life, and, hopefully, get back to a more normal existence.
Shirley Simpson
3/16/2004
Ohio Valley Coal Company has sent Mellott Heating and Plumbing
Co. out to check the furnace and chimney. They checked the fuel
ratio on the furnace (new in November 2003) and by changing it they
got the Carbon Monoxide level down at the flu pipe to about half
the previous level. That was a good thing to do of course but the
exhaust gas still comes out in the house due to the subsidence cracks
in the chimney. It is just less CO than before. They left two monitors
for CO gas here for me to check the level. I have also left my battery
powered device up near the crack in the chimney. One of theirs is
at knee level at the hall stairs and the other is on the mantel.
On the 16th the hall monitor showed a level of 24 and the one on
the mantel showed 168. My monitor continues to go off when the furnace
runs.
Floyd Simpson
3/15/2004
The Top Hat stove people came out today (The Endsley who was here
is related to Rod Endsley who used to be with Anchor.) They came
to measure the top of the chimney and the size of tail pipe from
the furnace. The roofers were up on the roof and they helped Endsley
measure as they already had the ladders and roof ladders up on the
roof. It seems that a 9 inch flexible stainless steel pipe can be
run down through the chimney and onto the tail pipe of the furnace.
Mr. Endsley was concerned about me staying in the house with the
CO monitor going off all the time and I have not been feeling well.
Have headaches and feel lethargic, etc. I got a phone call from
OVCC's Claude Luke in the afternoon and he was sincerely concerned
as Mr. Endsley had talked with him about my symptoms. Claude told
me to shut down the furnace and heat with electric heaters and he
was sending someone over first thing tomorrow to set up more heaters
and make sure my electrical system could handle the load and he
is paying my electric bill. He was really concerned about my health
and I appreciate that. Shirley wanted me to call my doctor - probably
a good idea but I am working on my income tax and didn't want to
break away. On another note: The roofers got all the metal on the
south side of the house except for some of the flashing around the
chimneys which are sealed already. The flashing is a permanent metal
covering that fastens to the brick and sheds any rain away from
the brick and onto the roofing. We are going to get snow tonight
and rain mixed later so it is great to have the peace of mind that
the roof will not leak on the south side anymore. The north side
has not been much of a problem but it will be replaced also when
the guys can get the weather to do it.
Floyd Simpson
3/12/2004
I was out of the house all morning, felt better. I came back inside
for two hours and the headache started again. Mr. Jerry Endsley
of Top Hats Stove and Pools called to set up a time on Monday to
measure the chimney to see how much flexible liner will be needed
for the chimney -- he said they have to get the bid in to the coal
company for it first. I told him I would expect him on Monday but
I have flu like symptoms. It was only 25 degrees all day, snow flurries.
My roofers did not work today.
Floyd Simpson
3/11/2004
Not feeling well, headache and just can't seem to get enough sleep
or rest. I think I called Mr. Clark again but am hazy about the
activities of the day.
Floyd Simpson
3/10/2004
Today is a beautiful day for a change. My roofers came to continue
replacing the original 140 year old slate roof with a slate colored,
high quality heavy standing seam metal roof. This was an approved
replacement by Mr. Steve Gordon of the Ohio Historical Preservation
Office as standing seam was also used in 1863 as well as slate.
Fitzpatrick roofers said they could see damage to the roof due to
longwall subsidence since they last looked at it in November. (Mining
occurred Christmas weekend in December.) They said it was, and I
quote, "a fair amount of damage". Dr. Reichwein came out
to see the artifacts and to see the damage to the house since he
had been here last. One of the artifacts seems to be a nutting stone
but it is rather unusual in that it is made of a square sandstone.
It has dents on opposing sides and a small dent on one edge with
some evidence of a man made groove along one of the larger dents.
He thought it was made by humans. Another item was the ceramic piece
found at the barn and left by American Archaeologist Services. He
made notes of the items and left them here with my notes in the
plastic bags. He thought the ceramic piece was early 19th century.
Dr. Reichwwin was concerned with me staying in the house with the
CO detector going off all the time. He asked me to call the ODNR
regional office and talk with Dave Clark. I tried to reach him but
Mr. Clark was out of the office. I left a message of basically what
was going on.
Floyd Simpson
3/9/2004
Dr. Jeff Reichwein the ODNR archaeologist called to set up an appointment
to see the artifacts found in the trench dug around the barn that
was left here by coal company hired archaeologist when the trench
was filled. There was a "legal notice" in our local paper
that OVCC wants an extension of their 5 year permit. A number of
local people are requesting a public hearing.
Floyd Simpson
3/8/2004
Diary-the lasting effects of longwall mining...
At 9:30 A.M. Monday March 8, 2004, serious negotiations commenced,
concerning resolution of the many problems resulting from longwall
mining under the new house. With Claude Luke, property manager for
Ohio Valley Coal Company. Issues such as temporary housing and storing
of all property while re-building is done, plumbing, landscaping,
and water replacement were discussed. Most importantly, the need
for quality construction, necessary to return the house and attached
garage to pre-mining condition, using the guidelines provided by
the structural engineer, is an integral part of this process.
In another matter, over the past week and a half, this house has
again been invaded by rodents. Since we took considerable measures
last fall to seal up, by mortaring, caulking, and foaming openings,
when a similar problem occurred, we had not experienced another
invasion until recently. Apparently, due to additional movement
by the house, due to subsidence, it is likely that other openings
have again allowed for entry by pests. This problem must be addressed
now, as we continue to inhabit the house until such time as an agreement
can be reached with OVCC. An investigation will be needed to assess
the situation, and more sealing procedures will need to be done
to keep these and other dirty pests from coming into the dwelling.
An exterminator will also be necessary to resolve this problem,
which has occurred just since longwall mining was done under the
property.
Shirley Simpson
3/8/2004
We had a meeting with coal company land manager, Mr. Luke. Discussions
concerned how OVCC will take care of the damages to the new house
and replace water. Mr. Luke said he had Top Hats report on damage
to my chimneys. He agreed to have them install an air tight, flexible
stainless steel liner into the chimney and to vent my furnace flue
gas that has been letting CO gas into my house. It is hard to not
breath this gas as this is winter time and the doors are closed
to conserve heat and of course this is when the furnace runs. I
cannot escape it. I often have headaches and really do not feel
up to par. Probably the only thing that is saving me is that the
longwall mine damage caused the ceilings to cave in and I lose heat
and gases from the furnace going up into the un-insulated attic.
Floyd Simpson
3/5/2004
Allegheny Restoration's Tom Anderson and Jon Smith came to look
over the damaged James Kinney house and summer kitchen. Their company
has done major restoration work for some time and has experience
in restoration of historic homes damaged by longwall mining like
the historic Thomas Kent house near Waynesburg, PA. I liked what
they had to say about "preserving" not just restoration
as in preserving what "horsehair" plaster is left can
be done. I learned a lot from these gentlemen about the house's
internal structure that I had not known in my 47 years of living
here. The inside walls are not "tied" to the outside walls,
for instance. Also, learned more about "horsehair" plaster.
It is not really horse hair but it is called that. It is probably
made with cattle hair, though. This is a little like the term "Mink
oil" used to condition leather. No mink were sacrificed to
make mink oil. The cracks in the hall walls caused by longwall mining
actually relieved the strain of twisting of the house as the walls
did not separate from the outside wall. This is now the expansion
joint for the differential of outside temperature vs inside. All
rooms in the house were shown to Mr. Anderson and Mr. Smith and
they described what would need to be done to bring the buildings
up to the Secretary of the Interior's standards. They said it would
be best to wait for a year before starting as the house is still
moving and will probably still move some even after a year - but
that was the earliest they would want to start. They looked at the
window lintel and the big hand carved foundation stone that broke
recently. There is no way to replace the big stone to original unbroken
condition. They can repair but not restore it to original condition.
The carver has gone to his final reward at least 100 years ago.
We cannot bring him back to redo another stone like this, especially
since the quarry closed at the turn of the century too. This is
irreparable damage done by mining and will "be a part of the
history of the house now "the longwall damage part of its history"
they said.
Floyd Simpson
3/4/2004
Top Hat Stoves and Pools representatives Jerry Endsley and Brian
Flanagan came out at the request of Mr. Luke to see the chimneys.
They examined three of the four (one is blocked off and never used).
All three showed damage. The one used to vent the furnace had the
most damage with wide cracks and fire bricks dropped down two inches
in the back. The CO detector went off while they were here. They
will give the report to Mr. Luke. of OVCC.
Floyd Simpson
3/2/2004
Mr. Thomas Pulay of ODNR-DMR met with Shirley to discuss plans
to repair her house. A meeting is planned for the coal company to
also meet with us. Mr. Pulay was given information about the company
that is located at the old farmhouse that was not given notice of
pending mining and disruption of business. OVAS, Inc. is an Ohio
corporation and should have been notified 6 months in advance of
mining.
Floyd Simpson
3/1/2004
The cracks are getting larger in front of house on State Highway
147. These cracks are several inches wide and are allowing potholes
to develop along the curb side at the mailbox. East bound traffic
coming up the hill has to run into these potholes or go across the
centerline at the top of the hill to miss them. Not a good place
to be across the centerline! New cracks now go across the highway
at the end of Township Road 288 (Dunfee Road) It will be hard for
the state road crew to fix this as we are still in the midst of
winter.
Floyd Simpson
2/29/2004
I heard a loud "crack" at 4:45 AM and again a double
"thump..thump" at 6:24 AM and the house shuddered as though
the ground was settling under the house. More hairline cracks on
the chimney that is in use for the furnace. The Carbon Monoxide
detector goes off every hour. Usually during the time the furnace
is running.
Floyd Simpson
2/25/2004
David Rucker of QES came to check the water resources for the farmstead.
No change. The historic dug wells are empty of any water. Two livestock
springs in the virgin forest area and pasture next to it and the
barn livestock spring are at zero flow. He checked the livestock
spring and collection tanks above the wetland last week and reported
that it is still at zero flow. This can be seen today from the highway
and it is still dry. (10,000 gallons a day should be going into
the wetland to keep it hydrated. One can walk across the wetland
without getting shoes wet now.)
Floyd Simpson
2/24/2004
I Suspected a problem with the dropped ceiling in the Northwest
living room so I popped the ceiling panel up and was shocked to
see massive loss the classic 1863 "horse hair" plaster
that has fallen down from the ceiling and the wall above the front
window. It has landed on the top side of the suspended ceiling tile.
The other front window was not as bad but it is severely cracked
across the wall and ceiling and will be the next big problem. The
ceiling panel is bowed down and will have to be removed before it
comes crashing down on my files and office use space. (I had moved
items around to this room as I had damage above these files in another
room used as my farm office but now I have no place to go).
Floyd Simpson
2/19/2004
Beautiful day here is southeastern Ohio. We took time away from
the farm to be with Randy's family in Columbus, OH. We drove back
through the western end of the Drovers Trail Scenic Byway and looked
at the new Ohio Byway signs.
Floyd Simpson
2/18/2004
Mr. Tom Pulay, ODNR-DMR came to look at the damage done by subsidence.
He had not been here since the mining took place. He took quite
a few pictures of the damage. We looked at the newest damage to
the lintel and the master cut stone, summer kitchen, barn and milk
house and wells. We noticed that damage is occurring down under
the master cut stone onto the cut stone under it. There must be
a lot of strain on this corner of the house. I had also called Claude
Luke (OVCC) and he said he would come look at it too as he was working
in this area this week. He also updated me on the chimney exam.
The man from Top Hats has another day job and has not got back to
him on a time he can be here. I told Mr. Luke about the CO-2 monitor
I have on the mantel and that it is going off every once in a while
to indicate that there is a CO-2 problem. There are cracks in the
inside chimney that are visible. I have a fuel oil furnace and it
may not be as dangerous as natural gas but I am concerned about
what other damage might be in the flue that would let hot gas or
a spark into the house somewhere. That has the potential of setting
my house on fire. The NorthEast living room has plaster coming down
on the furniture and carpet. I had to put more plastic drop cloths
down and clean up more mess.
Floyd Simpson
2/16/2004
Just discovered this new damage this afternoon to the James Kinney
Farmstead main house. There is a break across a 9 foot long master
cut foundation stone. This has occurred in the last 24 hours. These
huge hand carved stones were made at St. Joe, a small community
between Warnock and the Ohio River. They went out of the stone quarry
business at least 100 years ago so it will be difficult to get an
exact replacement. Probably the master stone cutter has gone to
his final reward a hundred years ago too. I am very depressed over
this finding. This breakage is directly under the window that has
the broken lintel (i.e. NorthEast corner).
Deans Water brought 500 gallons for my tank. There is no indicator
is on the tank so I never know how much water is in it but they
keep it mostly filled up so it has never run out - yet, although
Shirleys' water supply has.
Floyd Simpson
2/14/2004 (pictures)
I am over the flu enough to take pictures of the lintel breakage
and the inside damage. Ohio Valley Coal Company has sent me a check
for a tank of fuel oil to heat the house in January since much of
the heat is going up through the attic now that the plaster has
come off. This check is much appreciated. Mr. Claude Luke of OVCC
has been thoughtful and helpful in this regard.
Floyd Simpson
2/11/2004
While showing the house to one of my hay customers, we discovered
the un-explained sound of yesterday. A lintel (that is the heavy
stone above a window) was broken in two. This was on the front of
the house at the first floor window of the NorthEast living room.
We went inside and took out the panels of the suspended ceiling
and found extensive damage to the interior at the same location
as the lintel. I hate to think that the other one will break too
but that is a possibility. Damage also appears above the window
that faces the barn but no damage is seen on the outside of the
house. It seems that this corner of the house is being wrenched
around. The damage inside has been initiated at the corner but has
radiated cracks across the ceiling and around the top of the room.
A week ago only a little damage was seen in this area.
A letter
to the editor of the Washington Observer Reporter newspaper
gave testimony to our case through Mrs. Williams of the historic
Kent farmstead. Her house is similar and she was undermined two
years ago. Her letter indicated that subsidence damage was still
a continuing problem with her house.
Floyd Simpson
2/10/2004
The Ohio Department of Transportation has put up Drovers Trail
Scenic Byway signs today according to an email received from Columbus.
Have not seen them yet as I am not out much due to the flu. The
floor in the kitchen went back to where it was before mining, but
it left tile cracked at doorway. The house is still making strange
sounds.
Floyd Simpson
2/9/2004
I noticed new cracks in the hall ceiling. Heard something like
timbers cracking under the stair case landing. It is a built in
cantilevered structure and something gave way inside the structure
itself. That area is where the plaster cracked this time. Mr. and
Mrs. Hart were undermined. Their son Joe said there was damage.
Floyd Simpson
2/6/2004
Deans Water came out and put in 1,000 gallons of water into the
temporary water supply tank in the front yard.
Floyd Simpson
2/5/2004
Concerning them letting me run out of water this week: There were
no issues with bad road conditions over the several days that they
could have brought water before I ran out. I did leave a message
for Claude Luke and one for ODNR telling them about the situation.
I was given no reason by anyone as to why they didn't deliver earlier.
Shirley Simpson
Got a copy of the front page of one of the Pennsylvania papers
sent to me by a lady who runs an advertising firm in that area.
Her house was badly damaged by Consol some years ago. Due to the
flu I had to cancel out on several meetings.
Floyd Simpson
2/4/2004
Ice still very thick everyplace. I had to call Deans Water service
also. They are supposed to be keeping up with their 6 day schedule
but have not. I do not have a way to determine how much water is
in the tank as there is no indicator installed. The flu bug has
me down, or is it from sweeping up the dust and pieces of ceiling
plaster that is bothering my lungs?
Floyd Simpson
2/3/2004
Dean's water let me run out of water again this morning. I called
and they said the driver was not in yet but they wrote it down.
So I called Claude Luke at OVCC and left him a message informing
him that they had let me run out of water again too. I had previously
requested that they deliver water to me every six days since the
low water monitor light is staying on all the time now and I never
know how much water I have left at any given time. I think the last
time the driver was here was a week ago today.
Shirley Simpson
Shirley reported that Deans Water Supply has let her run out of
water. She is not a happy camper!
Floyd Simpson
2/2/2004
Pendulum upstairs has moved slightly to the northeast overnight.
Same movement for the northwest living room. Dave Rucker came to
check the wells and springs, no change, all dry except for the drilled
wells.
Floyd Simpson
2/1/2004 (pictures)
I have had no peace of mind since longwall undermining caused the
devastating diminution of my original water supply, a drilled water
well. As drilled it had a 2.25 gal./minute recovery rate. Following
the effects of subsidence, on July 24, 2003 Quality Environmental
Services drew the well down and measured the recovery rate at .1
gal/minute, indicating that the well is no longer a viable water
supply. The temporary water supply, which was forced on me, over
my serious objections, by Ohio Valley Coal Company, consists of
a 1700 gal. tank buried in the ground and plumbed into the house.
Being underground and because that system was to be sealed by caulking,
I believed that the potential existed for serious problems. At that
time I offered to settle the water issue with OVCC. I requested
that they hook this house up to the Belmont County water line, which
runs along the state highway across from the house. OVCC refused
to do that, insisting that the buried tank was what they were using
and I had no choice in the matter. Was this an economy decision
for the coal company? Each load of 1000 gals. of delivered water
costs up to $140. Belmont County water costs about $12 for the first
3000 gallons, with the next 7000 gallons at a rate of approximately
$3.75/1000gals. In addition I was assured that the underground tank
system would provide me with whole house safe drinking water, chlorine
free, with the installation of a charcoal filter. Water tests were
taken indicating that the water was safe and chlorine free following
installation. However, as time passed, and experiencing substantial
rains, the water supply in the house was cloudy. The inline filter
was changed a number of times but the water was never perfectly
clear. I requested on no less than 11 occasions that it be re-tested
for safe quality. On July 23, following a heavy rain, the water,
coming from my kitchen tap, was very dirty in appearance. I called
the plumbing contractor who passed that information on to OVCC.
On July 24 they finally ordered another quality test and it proved
to be contaminated with E. coli and coliform bacteria. Obviously
surface water was entering the system, and no doubt had been for
some time, as per the observed cloudiness of the water. QES purged
the system with chlorine, flushed and refilled the tank on July
26, 2003. An ultra-violet light was then included in the system
and the top was dug out in an attempt to re-seal the riser. Since
that time the water coming in from the tank has tested positive
for coliform bacteria on two occasions, but the water circulating
through the house, past the UV light, has tested safe. For a time
there were problems with the UV light monitor indicating that it
might not be working properly. Since water tests are done occasionally,
and the results not reported until the next day, if the UV light
were to malfunction we could still be subjected to contaminated
water. In addition, I have run out of water three times, and that
could happen again. On a number of occasions I have had to call
twice to get a delivery. During dangerous road conditions, the water
delivery service does not travel, which is perfectly understandable.
Finally, the stress of worrying about the availability of water,
or lack thereof, and the possibility of unsafe water, only adds
to the ever-present stress of dealing with the serious damage to
one's home. The rebuilding of this house will be a major project.
The disruption and inconvenience of being uprooted, moving everything
out, with storage in a temperature and moisture controlled facility,
easily accessible, during the process of rebuilding, is a necessity.
When the rebuilding occurs, dated pictures will be taken and will
appear on the www.countrymilefarm.com website for the public to
view.
Note: The new above-ground temporary water tank installations were
intended to eliminate any issues with E. coli and coliform bacteria
caused by the underground tank installations. However, this has
not proven to be the case. On 1/7/2004
the new above ground tank at the James Kinney Farmstead main house
was also found to be contaminated with coliform bacteria.
Shirley Simpson
1/30/2004
Due to the bad weather the PBS television crew did not make it.
It is delayed to another time. There is ice everywhere and I took
a nasty fall today. Just got bruised up a bit. The mine is now under
the Hart Barn. I went past there today and saw large cracks opening
up the township road. One place is so wide that it looks as though
it would have the road fall off into the valley if it was not for
a large oak tree next to it. Cracks are up to the barn along the
road. The coal company does not have water available for his cattle
yet. Had been too cold to get the cement trucks out and pour the
foundation for the tank. All of a sudden a lot of plaster let loose
in the SE bedroom, the hall and SW bedrooms. It seems that the house
is on a twist yet and this just keeps happening. There was a loud
noise last night that sounded like breaking bricks or foundation.
It is too cold to go out for an inspection and I am still pretty
sore from the fall to take more chances on the ice which is 2 inches
thick in places.
Floyd Simpson
1/29/2004
This was Belmont County membership kick-off day. We had 32 members
even though the weather was cold and snowy. Many of the members
were talking with me about the damage to the historic structures
and other issues of mining in the area.
Floyd Simpson
1/28/2004
The issue of damage to the historic James Kinney Farmstead has
attracted attention in Columbus. Farm Bureau Federation is interested
in this issue due to their commitment to farmers property rights.
Meeting was well attended even though the weather was snowy and
cold. OVCC is about to mine under the residence of Mr. and Mrs.
Francis Hart as the mining panel advances eastward from our homestead.
I heard a loud snapping sound at the barn foundation today but could
not see what caused it. It was loud enough to have been a major
timber breaking. It must be under the barn as I looked it all over
upstairs.
Floyd Simpson
1/27/2004
Mr. Claude Luke (OVCC) came by to see if I needed anything. I explained
about the house being hard to heat due to the fallen plaster and
he offered to help with the heating bills this winter. I gave him
a copy of the last bill which he said he would pay. I showed him
some of the newest plaster loss and the wall in the office that
is cracked badly now. I also showed him the chimney that is used
by the furnace which has developed serious cracks and is bowed slightly
into the room. He promised to have TOP HATS Chimney sweeps come
out next week and examine it to make sure it is safe to continue
to use.
Floyd Simpson
1/26/2004
Mr. Kurt Stubbs came by and gave me a copy of the scheduled program
of cables that were on the three buildings. He did a great job of
detailing each day of service, how much tightening was needed, temperature,
and all the information and how it related to the program designed
in the mitigation plan. He was still monitoring the wells and springs
but said they were still dry.
Floyd Simpson
1/25/2004
Very cold and snow/rain mix by evening. Did not get out to look
at the outside bricks that were broken as I had planned. With this
cold weather the house is hard to heat due to the high hall ceiling
with the plaster off and the heat is going right up through to the
un-insulated attic.
Floyd Simpson
1/24/2004
Quiet week so far as far as plaster falling. Getting calls from
people who have seen the newspaper articles. The Dysart Woods issue
is still making news. Ohio University has signed off on their appeal
to prevent mining under it. Dysarts' old growth forest is only a
little ways from our farm. I can look at the top of the "Red
Trail" from my kitchen window.
Floyd Simpson
1/22/2004
The dug well at the barn is now DRY as a bone. This well may have
been the first water supply for the pioneer, John Franz who had
the first house just a few feet away. Possibly dug in 1795. The
dug well at the house was dug in and was up and servicing the Kinney
family by July 1863. Yesterday it was declared DRY. I had the contractor
check the cistern yesterday too as it had been 8 feet down to water
this past Monday. It too was DRY! The drilled well was still holding
water but it has never been used except when Kinneys had a hand
pump in it back in the 50's. On Dec. 22nd I filed a complaint with
the chief that the dug wells and cistern were on the National Register
of Historic Places and I considered them just as important to the
James Kinney building complex as any other feature. I complained
that they had been ignored in the mitigation plan that the ODNR
chief had already approved. At this time I have not heard back from
him or from Dave Clark (ODNR).
Floyd Simpson
1/21/2004
Dave Rucker of QES said not only the Franz well is dry but the
dug well at the main Kinney house and even the cistern are dry.
These features are also listed on the National Register as they
are man made and of quite some antiquity and of necessity for the
early residents of the James Kinney Farmstead. This is a very heavy
blow to the integrity of the homestead. There are two drilled and
metal cased wells and levels of them are falling too he said. He
also reported that the spring in the pasture lot below the barn
is now dry. This was the back-up water supply for cattle at the
barn.
Floyd Simpson
1/20/2004
I have been working in the basement spraying foam in a lot of the
cracks hoping that will keep out some of the cold air. While I have
been working down there I have seen some new cracks in the basement
floor that I hadn't seen before but at least some of them probably
have been there for a while. Also I noticed that the baseboard in
the kitchen area down there is no longer tight down on the concrete
floor. There is a gap about 1/2 inch between the bottom of the baseboard
and the floor. I just hadn't looked for that before and there are
some new cracks in that floor also that may be just starting. Also
I can see where some water has run in under a tv table that is down
there since I moved it today. This house is such a mess I don't
like to work down there but am trying to get some things gathered
up and moved around from time to time.
Shirley Simpson
1/20/2004
Was away from the house some today to get groceries and send mail.
I called Belmont Tech. College to talk with Mr. Dave Mertz, director.
I asked him for names of some contractors that do quality restoration
as I had been referred to him by Mr. Steve Gordon of the SHPO office.
He gave me one name -- out of Pittsburgh that he was familiar with.
He said he had been seeing the TV and newspaper reports about the
historic buildings being undermined. He said he did not understand
why the coal company did not go around. Mr. Stubbs reported that
our main well is now DRY!! This is a terrible blow, it has only
been dry temporarily on a few occasions since I have been here (1957)
and it has supplied water for a 32 cow herd plus their calves, water
for cleaning the milk processing equipment and our household. Recovery
rate has always been excellent with it. This well has the farm history
wrapped around itself. It was the original well for John Franz,
the first white pioneer who settled here about 1795, before land
deeds were given and he did get one when it was available but had
to default on it's payment. The reason this farm and homestead is
at this location is because of that one great resource - water,
pure and plentiful and worth digging into hard stone down 33 feet.
Dug by men who had only pick and shovel and a bucket with a rope
and a strong boy that pulled the rocks and dirt to the surface.
Mr. Franz and his family built a log house within 20 feet of this
fine well. And yes, it was listed on the site map of the National
Register of Historic Places.
Floyd Simpson
1/19/2004
More neighbors coming by to offer their services and to see the
broken house. OVCC's public relations man, Steve Cohen, gave a statement
to a Pennsylvania newspaper that the cracks were already there,
opened up when the longwall went under, then closed up. May I note
that this person has never been in my house! Also, OVCC pictures
(and mine) taken before mining do not show this to be the case.
This seems to be a primitive attempt by OVCC to deny damages that
they legally have to pay for. I am still hearing loud noises inside
the brick walls. I wonder if this from bricks inside the plastered
walls finally giving way due to the twist the house is on. Another
TV station just called to set up an appointment. The ceiling above
the fireplace in the NE living room is cracking and bulging. The
cracks extend now up above the dropped ceiling and with the panel
removed it shows a serious separation up to the 2nd floor. This
is the chimney that is used by the heating plant. Are the bricks
also broken inside the plaster clear to the fire wall inside the
chimney? Will fumes come out through this into my living room? I
took the big tractor with the cab down to the cattle spring development
and found that it is still completely dry, this is the one that
feeds the wetland at the 200 foot mound. The wetland is still dry,
can walk right across it now with no boots. I drove down to the
2nd pasture to the east and looked for water in the creek as it
was dried up below the wetland also for 150 meters. There was water
coming into the creek but it was past the pasture fence. this means
that no water, even in the creek available for cattle in these two
pastures. This area I looked at is all part of the 57 acres of the
"James Kinney Farmstead" as it involves the intrinsic
values of the farm as Kinney farmed it 150 and more years ago, i.e.
crop, pasture, water supply, mound, and virgin forest. Part of this
was undermined in June 2003 without filing papers with ODNR DMR
concerning Process 106. The mound should have been investigated
and documentation of the spring and wetland would have been needed.
The Kinney trash dump was in this area and would be considered an
"artifact field" by any competent archaeologist.
Floyd Simpson
1/18/2004
Barn bowing went back!!! Something structurally has been happening.
Ceiling above my office on the first floor of the house is shedding!
Also some plaster came through the panels of the false ceiling in
the NW living room and came in on the piano. SW bedroom is now worse
with new cracks opening up in the wall and extending up to and across
the ceiling.
Floyd Simpson
1/17/2004
Barn is still bowed outward but have not found out what is causing
this structural problem that has been caused by the longwall. It
may be down in the pillar type stone foundation. Pendulum upstairs
in the barn remains unchanged but the barn is 60 feet long with
timbers that do not have a splice in them, each were made from a
tree and were hand hewn. Just a little drop on one of the stone
pillars could cause a problem. The house is definitely harder to
heat due to the loss of hot air up through the places where the
plaster came off and the bare lath is exposed. Since the attic is
not insulated the heat going through the lath is lost to the outside
world.
Floyd Simpson
1/16/2004
Went to Reynoldsburg to be with Randy and family. Was nice to get
away for awhile from the "broken farm".
Floyd Simpson
1/15/2004
The Hughes crew was here at 7:45 AM getting cribbing off barn overhang
and the corner posts off the house. I have to turn off electricity
to the summer kitchen and other buildings while they get the top
cables off. Cribbing was removed under the barn ramp. I noticed
that now the north end of the ramp, just under the man entrance
door has dropped down about 5 or 6 inches. This will have to be
addressed as the ramp is designed to hold up a tractor, loads of
hay etc. The ramp is independent of the barn foundation. Again the
milk house was damaged a great deal just a few feet away while this
main barn has flexed with the movement. The barn, although looking
good from a distance, has developed a "bulge" out on the
south side and on the west side in the area of the 4 windows. Could
this be from a foundation shift? Whatever it is there is no visible
problem inside but there is much of the foundation that cannot be
seen without removing the floor. I note that the Ohio Department
of Highways (ODOT) highway inspection folks are often seen going
by the damaged State Route 147 area east of the barn. The separated
sections of highway make a rumbling sound when cars go by. The Hughes
crew got all corner braces off the house today. All cables have
now been removed. The storm door was put back on the kitchen (at
last!). This has been a big drain on my heating budget as only the
original 1863 entrance door was keeping out the cold and it was
not fitting the door case after the longwall went under.
4:00 PM Hughes men got all their cables, cribbing, plywood, tension
sensors and miscellaneous supplies loaded and left. Everything was
done except for filling in the little trench at the base of the
foundation and getting the downspouts on. The heavy, sloped rock
at the top of the basement entrance was not put back in place. Either
the longwall action or the cables moved it several inches. Would
not be able to get the "cellar door" to go back on with
it that way. Not sure I can move it with the tractor and not sure
I should as I am not equipped to handle it. In place of the nice
white downspouts they left the long 4 inch corrugated pipes connected
to the gutter. These long pipes carry off the rainwater from the
roof to a point close to the highway. They look like big long black
snakes coming down from the roof and running out in the yard. Not
harmful, just not very neat for such an elegant house. I burned
a CD of damages so far so it can go on the website. Heard loud "Thumps"
again in the basement area at 7:00 PM.
Floyd Simpson
1/14/2004 (pictures)
The Hughes crew are still removing cribbing and cables. Mr. Polite,
the hired archaeologist, came (late due to waiting for many school
buses and even getting a ticket) from Youngstown office. He and
David Bartsch of OVCC took off for the barn to find the pottery
that Polite had discarded at the original digging of the barn trench.
Since this site is within 50 feet of the original 1795 circa house
Dr. Reichwein said these pieces would be pertinent to the site investigation.
So Mr. Polite found these three pieces Bartsch and Polite were really
"ticked" that I had told Reichwein about these shards.
I gave them a rough time about taking these items form an artifact
site on my property. I had them put the 3 peices of china on a piece
of scrap wood and I took digital pictures of them. I noted that
Mr. Polite stayed the rest of the day and did not find anything.
He and I went over to the barn site and watched as the last of the
trenching was done. In fact, we both saw it at the same time, a
piece of china was in the backfill. He left it at the site in my
care. I do not know why he did not want to take that piece along
with the 3 others. Mr. Rucker of QES came to me with a long face
this PM. He said the dug wells are going dry fast.Only 28 feet down
to water in the circa 1795 well and it is 33 feet deep. Due to the
predicted snow storm everyone took off about 3:00 PM today. Hughes
guys had started at 7 AM so it still an 8 hour day and they drive
for 90 minutes to get here from home at Ruff Creek, PA. Mrs. Stanford
came to clean the house this PM. She was very sad about the condition
of the house. She has been doing the cleaning here for over 3 years
and feels attached to the old house. She brought her camera and
took a number of digital pictures. She showed me a copy of a letter
she received from Sam Spect, ODNR Division manager. He was responding
to her letter at Christmas. He seemed to be blaming land owners
for complaining when coal was taken by longwall even though we know
of no longwall equipment in the US when any of the coal was sold.
All the coal under our farm was sold to a room and pillar mining
company and it was a long time before longwall mining came to the
United States. No one who sold coal rights had any idea that such
an invention would be used to cause such damage to the surface.
Floyd Simpson
1/13/2004 (pictures)
Hughes came out to take down cables. Started to fill in the trench
west of the house without having an archaeologist present. Dr. Jeff
Reichwein PhD (ODNR) was livid. He called David Bartsch and told
him that an archaeologist had to be here during the back-filling.
Bartsch was upset but Reichwein told him that he had been notified
of the conditions of the permit to mine under this historic property
a year ago. Bartsch was trying to call Dr. Soldo on his cell phone
to have them bring out a certified archaeologist to monitor the
backfill. Reichwein told me that the whole 57 acres of the James
Kinney Farmstead was considered to be "an artifact field".
Also, any cracks from the longwall in the fields were not to be
filled in without an archaeologist from the state present. Dr. Reichwein
called me at 1:45 PM and said he was in Bealsville on another project
but would drop that and come right over. He arrived at about 3:00
PM, in fact he came rushing into my driveway with his state car.
He observed the last of the filling in of the 14 foot deep trench
west of the house. He mentioned to me that no archaeologist was
on site as required in the conditions of the permit. This was a
pre-determined plan by ODNR that OVCC agreed with to be allowed
to mine under the historic property. He stated that the report by
Soldo had been received AFTER mining had been done and had only
arrived in his office this week. This report was "incomplete"
and "poorly constructed" and was due before mining and
subject to approval by himself and SHPO before going to the Chief
of ODNR DMR for a final OK. I asked why an archaeologist was needed
during back-filling and he said that it was because it was nearly
impossible to use a track-hoe to take dirt from the pile and put
it into the hole without scooping up some of the surrounding (as
yet) undisturbed artifact field.(my yard). This disturbance makes
it impossible for future investigation of that area. I remarked
that I had never had the chance to use a metal detector in that
area before they dug the trench. Not much chance of finding anything
now, it is all mixed into a 14 foot hole. The Hughes operator was
in a snit for being slowed up, he said they never had him stop for
an archaeologist to watch him fill in a trench in Pennsylvania.
I told him this was OHIO and it is done differently here. Needless
to say, Dr. Reichwein was very unhappy with OVCC about this violation
of the mitigation plan. QES's David Rucker brought bad news about
the historic wells. Both dug wells are going down at a rate of a
foot a day now, they will soon be empty. The drilled well at the
house and barn are holding steady. None of these wells are being
used now as OVCC has a "temporary" water supply piped
into the house.
Floyd Simpson
1/12/2004 (pictures)
About the same. More smaller but long cracks appearing on the ceilings
in bedrooms upstairs. Virgin forest still OK but the longwall must
be under a part of it by now.
Floyd Simpson
1/11/2004
Nothing new except for plaster still coming down on the top of
the false ceilings downstairs. Highway 147 is now worse. Cracks
are wider. Basement floor at bottom of the stairs is heaved up and
cracks done by longwall are now wider in two rooms. I walked the
virgin forest and found no problems.
Floyd Simpson
1/10/2004 (pictures)
Kurt was here early in 3 degree weather - reducing tension to the
cables. There were two loud "THUMPS" during the night
- at about 2:30 AM and at 7:00 AM there was a house shaking crash.
Did not find anything but I suppose that a rock deep in the earth
below the house fell into a cavity left by the longwall mining.
The "THUMPS" were from plaster falling from the ceiling
in a downstairs room which resulted in it landing on the false ceiling.
I took more pictures. This time 2 rolls of 35mm color in the house
and 12 outside, also with the digital camera of the State Highway
147 which is badly cracked on the turn east of the barn. Three of
these cracks go completely across the road and are wide, up to 4
inches! Five other cracks are associated with this area which was
the south edge of the 900 foot panel. This is not a big traffic
hazard unless they widen more but they are on a sharp turn of the
road. With the snow cover and ice storms we are having and the fact
that many travelers go too fast on this old "drovers' trail"
it could be a hazard unless the Ohio State Highway Department does
not get some patching done. The possible hazard would be that someone
could hit these deformed pieces of pavement and spin across the
road into oncoming traffic. I observed the milk house from the outside
and saw that it has damage to cement blocks on all three sides now.
I checked the pendulums in the barn and found that they were mostly
back to the "start" position - just a little to the north.
Found a possible reason for the "thumps" last night. The
SW upstairs bedroom had more ceiling plaster loss above the window
which was directly above the ceiling loss in the room below (office).
Found some broken bricks on the house, summer kitchen is same inside
and out.
Floyd Simpson
1/9/2004 (Kinney
House pictures) (New
House pictures)
Kurt is taking the pressure down on the cables, a little at a time
as per the specifications in the mitigation plan. Mr. Hughes called
me (mistakenly thought he was calling Dave Bartsch) said he understood
that the damage to the house was "minimal". I corrected
him on that assessment due to the extensive material damage to the
inside of the historic structures. The Hughes Company will take
the cables down and fill in the trenches on Tuesday. No visits by
ODNR or coal people today. Bartsch is the only one to be here all
week. Phone calls today to and from the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
in Columbus about a meeting later in January concerning Farm Bureau
policies. They have been following the news of the mining under
a sensitive historic site and are concerned that legislation has
not been in place to protect it and other property rights of farmers.
They stated that there is state wide concern in our issue here.
They are also interested in the Dysart Woods issue which is getting
press in Columbus too. Steve Gordon of the SHPO office left word
for me on the phone recorder that he saw the papers and TV in Columbus
and wanted to send me information by mail on restoration that will
need to be done to the property. He also left the comment that "They
never should have been allowed to mine under the historic property"
Got a letter from a Mr. Crawford who is a historic interpreter for
the Virginia Explore Park. A partial quote from him was "...Tragic,
I only hope we, as a society will learn...Hell..I hope we're shocked!
I am....Guinea Pig...I shudder!"
Floyd Simpson
1/8/2004
Our county Farm Bureau had a meeting with the county commissioners
this morning. Discussion was centered on trash pick up, recycling,
water lines being extended in the county and longwall mining that
is taking water from farmers in the area which will increase the
dependance on future County water supplies. Samantha Carroll is
the county recycling coordinator and gave a good presentation to
our group. I came home from the luncheon and QES had been here to
take another water test since the last one showed positive for bacteria
in my drinking water supplied by the coal company. The contractor
is placing a new tank above ground at the new house today. They
will eventfully remove the troublesome underground tank there and
switch to the above tank. A local lady called David Bartsch today
and gave him a piece of her mind about lying to the press. He had
said the cracks were already in the house and had opened up when
the longwall went under and then closed up afterward. She had been
on a tour here before the mining and told him she had not seen any
problem with the house before and wondered why he had lied about
it.
Floyd Simpson
1/7/2004
Very cold weather and my ceiling is losing heat into the un-insulated
attic. Also a heating concern is that the Hughes people took my
storm door off the outside kitchen door due to the cables that go
across the porch in front of the door. Heat loss out of the original
door is making the kitchen cold. QES brought me the water sample
that was taken Monday. It was POSITIVE for coliform
bacteria at the inlet from the big plastic tank (water buffalo)
in the yard. But it was negative for bacteria for a sample taken
at a point after the UV light. I faxed a copy to ODNR at Cambridge
with the comment that I did not like being experimented on. Channel
9 WTOV TV called for an appointment at noon and were here at 12:15
PM for another follow up interview. It was run at 5 and 6 PM today.
There was more plaster loss and cracks developing at new places
on the interior walls. They took pictures of the new cracks in the
furnace room and walls. Kurt Stubbs started to reduce tension on
cables today. It took him a long time. Snow and cold weather was
a problem. He is so dedicated and determined to get the cables at
the specified tension. I am sure he suffered from the cold but does
not complain. 8:00 PM I heard three loud "popping" sounds"in
the middle of the house -could not find anything wrong. But the
last time I was upstairs after the TV interview another long crack
had appeared from the ceiling down several feet on the east hall
wall about 5 or 6 feet from the northeast bedroom door. I checked
on the other side which is the stairwell an there were two small
cracks starting. I checked the southeast bedroom closet and found
a long, jagged structural crack had developed on the wall that corresponds
to the one in the hall. This means the house has lost structural
integrity in the middle hall support system. Not a good thing! Pendulums
have not changed much but downstairs are centered now.
Floyd Simpson
1/6/2004 (pictures)
Pendulums upstairs still on "start" position. NE Living
Room was same as last 3 days as it has moved to NE past the "start".
Same for NW living room. SW basement room not back to starting position
but is getting close to "start". SE Basement is past "start"
and a little north. Obviously the house is on a twist. Got call
from Scott Beveridge, Observer Reporter in Pennsylvania who interviewed
me. More plaster came down today, some damage was done to the original
hand painted baseboard woodwork when plaster came down in the south
hall. Dan Scott came to look at the furnace. It is OK for now but
he will come back this weekend to put straps on the pipes. He was
concerned about the movement of the concrete floor under the furnace.
Floyd Simpson
1/5/2004 (pictures)
This day started with a big "THUMP" sound as more plaster
came down in the hall downstairs. A little more has come down in
the upstairs hall ceiling last night too. The pendulum upstairs
is back to start and the living rooms downstairs are still past
start and the two in the basement are not quite back yet and are
slightly to the north side of start. A marble placed on the smooth
ceramic stove top races to the north now, instead of to the west.
Mr. Ernie Stubbs of QES came to get a water sample from the new
water system. Kurt Stubbs checked cables --- all were OK and he
checked the water in the wells again. The barn water level is up
to 18 feet (static level). This is a record of 15 foot of water
in the well that is 33 foot deep. He said surface water is coming
in like a torrent. We have just had 3 inches of rain and water and
mud is everywhere. The temperature is 38 degrees but the weather
is changing to snow this PM. The OVCC survey crew came out and made
measurements. They said the house and other buildings have dropped
4 feet since mining. (this turned out to be an error as it was 3
feet ) David Simpson, structural engineer, sent me a copy of what
was sent to the coal company concerning his opinion of the safety
of staying in the house. He stated that some "step cracks"
were found outside the brick buildings he expected more to occur
when the cables come off. I had another unexpected visitor drop
in, Chuck (?) who will be undermined by the Century Mine as he lives
down on SR 26. He said they should "OUTLAW LONGWALL MINING".
Dave Bartsch, OVCC, came by at 5:00 PM. I gave him static about
his public statement to the news media that "all the cracks
were in the house before and the longwall opened them up and now
that the longwall was past they closed up". I asked him why
he said that and he said that his employee, Claude Luke told him.
I gave him the tour and showed him the cracks that he said were
closed up... and what do you know, they are all still very open,
even getting more so every day. Dave Fitzpatrick called to ask about
a schedule for putting on the new house roof. I had to tell him
that it was still moving and it would not be wise to put it on for
a few weeks anyway. But we get bad weather in January so this might
not be possible anyway. I had asked Claude Luke and he indicated
that he would let me know when it was safe to put it on.
Floyd Simpson
1/4/2004 (pictures)
Kurt was checking cables when I first got outside today He said
the only cable that needed tightening was the one on the milk house.
The weather is miserable with two inches of rain last night and
more coming down. Everywhere around the house is a muddy quagmire
due to the heavy equipment work done for the mitigation process.
Mud is running into my dogs food pan from the big pile of earth
from the house trench. I had to move her to the barn for safety.
I went to church this morning and everyone was asking me how bad
the damages were as they were seeing my picture in the papers and
on TV a lot lately. One parishioner was from Columbus and saw it
in the paper there. Got home and the phone was ringing and a cousin
from Akron was calling to see how I was as she saw a full page on
the plight of the James Kinney historic house in her Akron Beacon
Journal. I had not heard from her for some years. Pendulums upstairs
are still back at the start position. Downstairs they are still
past the starting point. The basement pendulums are almost back
to the starting position. While checking these pendulums I discovered
something that never had happened before... the basement in the
furnace room was flooding! Water was gushing up through a big broken
hole in the cement next to the new furnace. I called my furnace
man and also the coal company and they called their plumber to come
out and sump pump it out. They were here in short order and got
it under control.
Floyd Simpson
1/3/2004
Pendulums in basement are still 1/2 to 3/4 inch to the west. Some
more damage is showing up in the floor of the basement SW room and
under the new furnace. On the first floor the two pendulums are
still about 1/4 of an inch PAST the start point while the one upstairs
was right back at the starting point. More ceiling came down in
the hall. Cracks have advanced in the center hall just above the
hot water baseboard register and new cracks have appeared above
the mantel in the NE living room. This is troubling as this is the
chimney for the furnace. Claude Luke of OVCC and I looked at cracks
in the summer kitchen. The big crack on the center wall has opened
up again. It had been tightly closed several days ago. Mr. Luke
said it would likely stay open now. The pendulum was stuck as the
floor has moved upward into the free swinging pendulum. I tightened
the string and it showed an overnight movement back toward start.
The Barn has had no visible damage but the milk house has new cracks
in the walls and floor. That pendulum was closer to the start position
as I found after tightening this string also. It seems that the
floor has heaved upward enough to lodge this one too. Mr. Luke came
with me to look at all of this. He has been sympathetic and helpful.
Mr. Stubbs checked and adjusted the cables at 8:00, 12:00, and 4:30
today. CNN today had a short story on wind farms Their science editor
wrote that 6% of the USA has ideal locations for wind generators
that could supply more than enough electric energy for the nation.
My comment is "So who needs coal fired power plants anymore?"
Floyd Simpson
1/2/2004 (Kinney
House pictures) (New
House pictures)
There is more damage in the old house-cracks in the upstairs hall
on wall next to Ron and Randy's room continue to lengthen and widen.
There is also damage around the front portico. Also the floors in
the basement show separation from the walls just like in my house
and there is more cracking and heaving of the concrete floors in
the basement. The milkhouse has sustained a good bit of damage but
so far the barn seems to be pretty good. Some of the plumb bobs
in the house went back to center and then started to move in the
opposite direction from where they moved before. Some seem to be
pretty close to back to start. The house is obviously still moving
and is twisted. Claude Luke from OVCC had told Floyd that it was
not coming down evenly.
Shirley Simpson
I found more damage that had been hidden above the false ceiling
in the office. Plaster came down on my office chair and when I lifted
the ceiling panel it was apparent that much damage was done to the
plaster as well as to wall over the office door. Found some broken
bricks on the south side of the house. Pendulums are back to start
position upstairs today and downstairs in the living rooms but in
the basement they are still 3/4 of an inch away from center. This
means the house is on a twist! Not good for an all brick house!
Later in the day the living rooms pendulums were PAST the start
position, all in a few hours time. No one from ODNR, DMR or OVCC
came today. Kurt Stubbs came and checked the well at the barn and
it has gained a foot of water. Yesterday it was at only 7 foot of
water when 11 foot of water is normal and now it has increased to
8 foot. The milk house pendulum is very far to the west, over 2
inches! The barn is OK but slightly to the west by 1/2 inch both
upstars and downstairs. Son Randy was home from Columbus and got
a good look at the damages done to this historic property. Neighbor
Eric Ruble also came over to look at the damage. His farm will be
mined in the future and there is much concern in his family too.
A couple of strangers stopped in to look at the damage. One of the
guys does some barn restoration and offered his help in any way
he could. Received a report from Dan Schrum, OSM about his trip
here.
Floyd Simpson
1/1/2004
No activity of officials here today. Kurt came and took care of
the cables. Damage is showing up more in the basement. More ceiling
damage and more cracks are opening up on the inside walls, especially
troubling are those at the perimeter of the ceilings in the west
bedrooms all along the wall. Looks like we have an outward movement
of the house against the cables. New damage is showing up at the
portico entrance, possibly due to the lack of cribbing inside the
portico which is the largest opening in the brick house. Somehow
these were forgotten when the house mitigation plan was effected.
I am worried that in case of fire I might not be able to get out
of the house. There are three doors to the outside and two are blocked
by cables. The storm door has been taken off the kitchen so I can
get out if I have to but in this cold weather it really makes a
big difference in heating. Also, heat is going up through the ceiling
lath and into the un-insulated attic. Hard to keep the house warm,
even with the new furnace going full blast. Yeah, I'm having a "Happy
New Year!"
I had a lot of company during this week. Folks who saw the TV shows
(they ran re-runs a lot on this situation) and read the Wheeling
and Martins Ferry papers had to come by and put in their 2 cents
worth. Yesterday I was visited by ODNR Mines and Mineral dept.My
homestead looks terrible now. Digging, tearing up my yards, putting
cables on my buildings, and breaking so much of the interior.
The house was actually leaning toward the west at one point - at
an incredible 8 inches lower on one side than the other. It has
not come down straight as this morning one of the pendulums was
right back to the starting point and all the others were still off.
My house has been twisted in the process. I have NO ceilings left
unaffected upstairs. A lot of it has fallen to the floor. Cracks
are everywhere and even the inside walls which are brick inside
and smooth plaster on the face are mostly cracked. At this time,
10:25 AM on New Years Day, the basement floor is badly cracked in
some areas and not at all in two rooms.
The milkhouse which is attached to the big timber-frame barn was
damaged. The floor is now cracked and it is leaning one way and
the barn is the other way (according to the pendulums in both structures.
The longwall mining has now gone past the last structure on the
James Kinney Farm building complex and is now about 300 feet past
the house and about 100 feet past the barn. Most damage at the milkhouse
and barn will be done between Dec. 31st and Jan. 2nd. but of course
we know that subsidence will continue at some degree for years.
The main well, dug about 1795 for the first settler, has been going
empty at the rate of about 2 feet per day in the last two days.
On Nov. 25, 2003, this great well had 11 foot of water (it is 33
feet deep), Today it only had 7.2 feet of water. This is a 6 foot
wide dug well and one can figure how many thousand gallons it holds
at capacity. Mr. Stubbs tested it today and said he could hear "a
lot of water coming into the well" but the level is going down!
Not a good thing. I believe we will lose this great asset to the
farm by losing this well and the springs across the road which have
already gone bone dry. What is amazing is the lack of damage up
to this point to the exterior brick and foundation stone. I do believe
that the banding has a big help in that regard. But, I still maintain,
they should NEVER longwall mine under National Register of Historic
Places property. I understand by yesterdays conversation with Mr.
Kevin Ricks of ODNR that this is the FIRST time ever that any longwalll
mining company in Ohio has mined under such a property and that
the James Kinney Farm building complex was treated as a Guinea pig!
Floyd Simpson
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