Associated Press Published

Murray Energy and Pennsylvania Agency Settle over 2009 Fish Kill

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Murray Energy and a Pennsylvania agency have agreed to settle a lawsuit over a massive fish kill in Dunkard Creek in 2009.

Spokesmen for Murray and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission tell The Dominion Post that details of the tentative settlement won’t be released until it is finalized.

The commission filed the lawsuit against CONSOL Energy in 2011 in Monongalia County Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleged that discharges from CONSOL’s mines inWest Virginia killed about 43,000 fish and other aquatic life on a 30-mile stretch of Dunkard Creek spanning the two states.

Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent said Tuesday that the company inherited the lawsuit when it bought CONSOL subsidiary Consolidation Coal Company in 2013.

Broadent says the fish kill was caused by a golden algae bloom.