Spencer Hunt, of Columbus Dispatch reports:

Ohio environmental officials are considering a request by a mining company to pump coal waste into the ground instead of turning an eastern Ohio stream into a 1.85-billion-gallon lagoon. 

In April, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rejected Murray Energy’s plan to dam and fill Casey Run in Belmont County. 

The EPA said the lagoon would threaten the pristine waters of nearby Captina Creek, the home of the endangered eastern hellbender salamander. 

State officials said today that underground storage would be a temporary alternative to a lagoon. They said that in the long run, the company will likely need to dam a different Belmont County stream. 

for more: http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/06/caseyrun.html?sid=101