Most mines have a high sulfur content, which produces high sulfur water, which is toxic to fish. But southern West Virginia coal mines are unique because they have a low sulfur content, which is suitable for raising fish. Ken Semmens, an Aquaculture Specialist for West Virginia University says farming fish requires a large amount of water. The mine behind Lillybrook has more than 2,000 hectares of water more than enough for successful aquaculture. It's not like you need enough water to fill your trough to water your cattle.
Trout require a good volume of water.
For instance we're recommending for commercial operations a thousand gallons per minute, or greater. That's a lot of water. Project Manager Matt Monroe adds, it's high quality water. The temperature of it's probably one of the top points some of the other places that raise trout, some of the other states, use a lot of surface water which during the summer months really warms up and its really hard on the trout. Water from the Southern coal mines has been so ideal for raising fish that there are now 16 farms in West Virginia using the resource.