Tag: Mechel Bluestone

Jury to Decide Contaminated Wells Case Against Coal Company

A jury in West Virginia will decide whether a coal company owned by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice contaminated the drinking water wells of residents in Wyoming County.

Local media outlets report the jury is scheduled to begin deliberations Thursday in the case against Justice-controlled companies Dynamic Energy Inc. and Mechel Bluestone Inc.

Fifteen families who live near Dynamic Energy’s surface mining complex at Coal Mountain say the operation contaminated their wells to the point that the water is no longer safe to drink.

If the jury rules in their favor, the families could seek a court order to force the companies to provide long-term treatment to clean up their wells.

During the trial, Billy Shelton, a lawyer for Dynamic Energy and Mechel Bluestone, told jurors the residents had no case.

Judge Certifies Class Action Lawsuit for Laid-Off Miners

A lawsuit filed by miners who say they were unlawfully laid off in Wyoming County has been certified as a class action.

The Register-Herald reports Judge Irene Berger granted the certification Tuesday in Beckley federal court.

The order says Michael Ray and at least 76 miners at the Double-Bonus Mine No. 65, owned by Mechel Bluestone Inc., were laid off between November 2013 and December 2013, in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The miners say they were laid off verbally, without a sixty-day notice and their medical and dental coverage was improperly terminated.

The lawsuit says the United Mine Workers also didn’t receive written notice of the layoff.

A pretrial conference hearing is set for July 21, and the trial is slated for August 8.

After 8 Months, W.Va. Families to Get Water from Coal Company

A judge expects that several families will finally have clean water provided by a coal company after he ordered it eight months ago.

In a hearing Wednesday in Wyoming County Circuit Court, Judge Warren McGraw said he believes the few families without water should have it by that night.

In December 2014, McGraw approved an injunction sought by more than a dozen residents near Mechel Bluestone’s Dynamic Energy Inc. mining complex. Residents said their water supplies were damaged by the mining operations.

McGraw’s ruling said water test results submitted by the plaintiffs showed high levels of arsenic, aluminum, lead, iron and other pollutants.

It said Dynamic’s state permit requires replacing water for surrounding homes if operations damaged local wells.

Attorneys for the families said Dynamic only replaced their water intermittently.

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