Tag: West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

Groups Sue Patriot Coal, Allege Pollution

Patriot Coal is being sued by environmental groups who say the company’s Hobet 21 mountaintop removal mine in Southern West Virginia is polluting the Mud River watershed.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the Sierra Club say they have identified multiple violations of water quality standards at the Boone County mine. The groups say streams in the watershed are no longer healthy ecosystems because of pollution from more than 20 valley fills.

Patriot Coal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The groups say the mine’s pollution permit prohibits dumping materials into waterways in concentrations harmful to humans, animals or aquatic life, or concentrations that significantly affect aquatic ecosystems.

The groups say they filed their complaint on Monday in federal court in Huntington.

Longview Power Seeks OK to Settle Pollution Suit

Longview Power has asked a bankruptcy judge to allow it to settle a lawsuit alleging pollution violations by two subsidiaries.

The federal lawsuit alleges that pollution discharges by Coresco and Mepco exceeded their permits. It also says other pollutants were discharged without a required permit.

The companies deny the allegations.

The Dominion Post reports that Longview filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware last week seeking permission to settle the case. Under the proposed agreement, Coresco and Mepco would improve flows at two discharge sites. They also would construct equipment to collect and divert flows to a water treatment plant.

The Sierra Club and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy filed the lawsuit in West Virginia in 2012. Longview filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013.

Parties Agree to Resolve W.Va. Mine Runoff Lawsuit

 Environmentalists and a landowner have agreed to resolve a lawsuit over runoff from a reclaimed mountaintop removal mine in Mingo County.

Under a proposed consent decree, Hernshaw Partners LLC will apply for a permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to cover selenium discharges from the former mine site.

The agreement was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Charleston. If approved by the court, the consent decree would end when Hernshaw Partners obtains the permit, or 18 months following the consent decree’s effective date, whichever comes first.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Sierra Club sued the company in 2013. The lawsuit alleged Hernshaw Partners discharged selenium from the site without a permit.

The Charleston Gazette reported the agreement on Wednesday.

Court: Mountaintop Removal Mines Polluted Streams

  A federal judge has ruled that two Alpha Natural Resources mountaintop removal mines in southern West Virginia illegally polluted streams.

U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers in Huntington ruled Wednesday that the Elk Run Coal and Alex Energy mines harmed aquatic life in Laurel Creek and Robinson Fork.

Chambers wrote it’s a “canary in the coal mine” that aquatic life diminished, as only pollution-tolerant species survived. Penalties are undetermined.

Environmental groups say it’s the first federal court ruling acknowledging damage from high conductivity discharges.

High conductivity might signal presence of pollutants including chloride, phosphate and nitrate. Mountaintop mines fill valleys with their waste.

The 2012 lawsuit by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Sierra Club cites the Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

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