West Virginia Ethics Commission Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Offshore Firm Seeks Debt Repayment From Justice-Owned Company

Caroleng Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands, went to the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia to seek repayment of more than $10 million, plus interest, from Bluestone Resources.

A company owned by Gov. Jim Justice owes an offshore investment firm millions and it’s seeking to collect payment.

Bluestone, based in Roanoke, Virginia, is one of the numerous companies listed on the disclosure form Justice files annually to the West Virginia Ethics Commission, and earlier this week appeared on his U.S. Senate candidate disclosure.

According to a filing this week, the offshore investment firm asked the court to authorize U.S. Marshals to seize Bluestone property to settle the debt, including a helicopter believed to be stored at the Roanoke Regional Airport.

The $10 million liability is not listed on Justice’s Senate disclosure form.

The governor owes other debts to states and the federal government.

In June 2021, the U.S. District Court in Delaware ordered Bluestone to pay the $10 million to Caroleng Investments. It also says that Bluestone owes 9 percent per year interest starting from May 13, 2020.

According to the filing this week in Virginia, Bluestone has not paid any of that amount.

U.S. Senate Disclosure Shows Justice’s Debts, Biggest Creditors

Gov. Jim Justice’s U.S. Senate candidate financial disclosure form reveals details not found in his filings to the state ethics commission. He must report his liabilities as a Senate candidate but not as governor.

Gov. Jim Justice’s U.S. Senate candidate financial disclosure form reveals details not found in his filings to the state ethics commission.

He must report his liabilities as a Senate candidate but not as governor.

Justice is not required to list his debts in his annual disclosure filed with the West Virginia Ethics Commission.

However, his disclosure as a U.S. Senate candidate, filed Monday, shows tens of millions of dollars in liabilities.

For example, Justice owes $25 million to $50 million to JP Morgan Chase. The New York bank is his largest single creditor.

It is also one of the five banks on the state treasurer’s restricted financial institutions list, because that office determined the bank was “boycotting” fossil fuel investments.

Justice made his fortune in the coal business, and most of his assets are coal-related.

The law behind the restricted financial institutions list, SB 262, does not apply to Justice. It blocks the institutions on it from receiving state contracts.

A recent Sierra Club report found that JP Morgan Chase and other banned banks are some of the biggest backers of electric utilities that burn coal.

The state’s ethics code exempts the disclosure of debts “resulting from the ordinary conduct of your business, profession or occupation” and “to a financial institution or credit card company.”

The debts listed in Justice’s Senate disclosure do not include the additional tens of millions of dollars he owes in taxes, fees and penalties to states in which he does business or the federal government.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing 13 of Justice’s companies to recover $7.6 million in civil penalties, administrative fees and interest.

The Senate disclosure requires candidates to report liabilities of $10,000 or more.

Justice-Owned Bluestone Coke Sued Over Water Pollution In Alabama

The complaint alleges that Bluestone is in violation of the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into a stream that exceed levels allowed by its permit.

Environmental and community groups have sued a company owned by the family of Gov. Jim Justice in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper and a local group called GASP filed the complaint against Bluestone Coke in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The complaint alleges that Bluestone is in violation of the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into a stream that exceed levels allowed by its permit.

It also alleges that Bluestone has been discharging pollutants not allowed by its permit such as barium, strontium, E.coli, semi-volatile organic compounds and volatile organic compounds.

It further alleges that the company deposited coal, coke, slag and sediment into a tributary of Five Mile Creek, an unpermitted fill into Waters of the United States.

The Bluestone Coke plant in North Birmingham is currently not in operation.

In December, Bluestone reached a consent decree with the Jefferson County, Alabama, Department of Health to pay a $925,000 penalty, the largest in the agency’s history.

In May, Black Warrior Riverkeeper reported that Bluestone had failed to pay $283,000 of the penalty and would owe an additional $1,000 for every day the payment was late.

Bluestone Coke is one of the numerous companies listed on Justice’s annual financial disclosure to the West Virginia Ethics Commission.

Justice, who is not named in the complaint, is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2024.

Justice faces other lawsuits, including one brought by the U.S. Justice Department over unpaid fines and penalties.

Alabama Coke Plant Justice Family Owns Agrees To Pay $1 Million Penalty

The Bluestone Coke plant in North Birmingham had been cited for years for hazardous pollutants from its coking ovens.

This story has been updated with comments from Justice.

An Alabama industrial facility owned by the family of Gov. Jim Justice has been ordered to pay a nearly $1 million penalty.

Bluestone Coke, which operated in North Birmingham, Alabama, was ordered to pay a $925,000 fine for air pollution violations. That, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, is the largest single penalty ever issued by the Jefferson County Department of Health.

The plant is currently not operating. If it resumes operation, it would be required to monitor its emissions. It would also be subject to more rigorous documentation of compliance.

In his COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, Justice called the settlement “a pleasing outcome to all parties.”

“I think it’s good,” Justice said.

The plant had been cited for years for hazardous pollutants from its coking ovens.

The local health department went to court last year alleging Bluestone violated its permit and the federal Clean Air Act.

A ProPublica story in September showed pollution from Bluestone had a disproportionate impact on the Black neighborhoods surrounding the plant.

Bluestone Coke is a subsidiary of Bluestone Resources, one of the many companies Justice lists on his annual disclosure to the West Virginia Ethics Commission.

2 Harpers Ferry Officials Admit To Ethics Violation

Former and current council members in a West Virginia town have admitted to an ethics violation for voting to decide on whether to count provisional ballots that impacted their elections.

Both Harpers Ferry Council Member Hardwick Johnson and Charlotte Thompson, the former council member, entered the conciliation agreements with the state’s Ethics Commission Thursday, The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

The agreements said the officials had violated a provision in the Ethics Act by voting on the measure while having a direct financial interest in the outcome due to their salary.

Johnson and Thompson were both council members and candidates in the municipal elections election last year when the city council voted to reject four provisional ballots.

The decision was contested, and the case reached the state’s Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in June ordering that the ballots be counted. The court also said Johnson and Thompson should have recused themselves from weighing in on the issue.

The ballots were counted last month and changed the final results of the election, making Thompson lose his seat.

Both Johnson and Thompson must pay fines, accept a public reprimand and undergo ethics training as part of their agreement.

State Workers Can Attend Conference at Governor's Resort

The West Virginia Ethics Commission says state employees can attend a business conference at a resort owned by the Republican governor.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the commission says state workers can attend the conference at The Greenbrier, but they can’t spend state money on food and lodging at the upscale resort.

Gov. Jim Justice owns The Greenbrier resort and has not placed it into a blind trust. He has placed his ownership of two other resorts into a blind trust.

It will cost the state about $5,000 for eight tourism employees to attend the conference. Some of that money will go to the resort.

Commissioner Betty Ireland said the governor needs to put The Greenbrier into a blind trust immediately. A spokesman for Justice did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.