For about two years, Steve and Patricia Borushko had a slice of the American Dream.

The couple bought 10 acres of land in Eighty Four, Washington County, built a house in 2003 and tended to a couple of cows and chickens.

Then, on Thanksgiving Day 2005, with 19 guests over for dinner, they lost water. Their well stopped.

“You couldn't flush a toilet or wash a dish,” Steve Borushko said.

Since then, the family — Steve, 58, Patricia, 56, and their 19-year-old son, Dominick — have had water problems — no water, contaminated water, orange water. They blamed Eighty-Four Mining Co., which owned adjacent property.

On Dec. 15, the Borushkos sued Eighty-Four Mining, claiming chemicals from Mine 84 and a nearby slurry pond leaked into the ground water and contaminated their well.

“They took away our American Dream,” said Steve Borushko. “We saved all of our lives for that place.”

Gary M. Broadbent, spokesman for Murray Energy Inc., the St. Clairsville, Ohio-based coal company that owns Eighty-Four Mining, said the company could not comment on the lawsuit because it had not seen the complaint.

“We can, however, tell you that we acquired Eighty-Four Mining Co. in December of 2013, and we had absolutely nothing to do with any supposedly mining-related damages there,” Broadbent wrote in an email to the Tribune-Review.

Murray Energy acquired Eighty-Four Mining and Mine 84, a closed coal mine in Eighty Four, from Consol Energy Inc. in a $3.5 billion deal struck last year that transferred coal mines, towboats and barges to the Ohio company.

Consol idled Mine 84 and its 260 miners in 2009 because of falling coal prices. The mine shut down in 2011. Longwall mining operations periodically hit sandstone during the mine's last few years.

The mine lies about 800 feet underground and sprawls for about 45 square miles, a third the size of Pittsburgh.

Eighty-Four Mining tried to remedy the situation by drilling new wells but all failed, Borushko said. The family's yard is full of ruts from drilling equipment and uncapped wells, he said. The family had no idea of the potential water problems when they bought the land.

The state Department of Environmental Protection forced Consol to give the Borushkos city water in 2011, ending about six years of practically no potable water available on their property, Borushko said. Even then, their water company has advised them from time to time not to drink the water because of contamination.

Borushko said Eighty-Four Mining agreed to pay their water bills but hasn't. The family is hesitant to drink the water, opting for bottled water.

“When you never know what you're putting in that glass, it's scary,” Borushko said.

Gone are the cows and chickens. The Borushkos stopped finishing their home and believe they can't sell.

“Basically, our little family dream was shut down,” Borushko said.

Aaron Aupperlee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7986.

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