DEP Allows Dana Mining Drainage Work in Greene Co. Without Permit
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
15 January 2011
By Don Hopey
The state Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to allow
Dana Mining to proceed with a plan to drain water from Consol Energy's
Humphrey No. 7 deep mine in Greene County without a mining permit.
It's a decision that the U.S. Office of Surface Mining is reviewing and
an environmental group, Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, is
criticizing and may appeal.
The DEP announced Thursday that it had entered into a consent order and
agreement with Morgantown-based Dana Mining that acknowledges the
company is performing mining operations without the required state
mining permit, but allows the work to continue while the company
applies for an amendment to an existing permit for its 4West mine. That
permitting process could take several months.
The consent order states that the bore hole and pump construction work,
along the North Branch of Calvin Run in Perry Township, is needed to
allow Dana to continue operating its mines in the Sewickley coal seam
which employ 500 miners.
The consent order also states that Dana has agreed to pay a civil
penalty of $1,000 for each month in which it performs construction work
without the permit, starting in January.
The department waived any damage assessment prior to this month because
of what it refers to in the consent order as "confusion" about the
permitting requirements.
The DEP and Dana entered into the consent order after the Office of
Surface Mining, in response to a citizen complaint, issued a 10-day
notice of violation to DEP last week.
"We have already called on OSM to conduct an inspection of the site and
issue a cessation order," said Kurt Weist, senior attorney for
PennFuture, which filed the initial citizens complaint with OSM on Dec.
27. "We told OSM that is the only acceptable outcome."
Mr. Weist has said that Consol would benefit from the project because
it would avoid paying to treat the mine water that is pooling in its
Humphrey Mine.
OSM, which can step in and overrule the DEP if it determines state and
federal mining laws are not being enforced, said in a
statement Friday that it is evaluating DEP's action.
If it agrees with the DEP, it could do nothing. Or, it could issue a
cessation order that would halt work. George Reiger, OSM division chief
for the Pittsburgh Field Division, which has oversight for
Pennsylvania, said there is no deadline for the OSM to make a decision.
Dana Mining plans to pump the water out of the Humphrey Mine and pipe
it to the Steele Shaft treatment plant, where it would receive minimal
treatment before being discharged in to Dunkard Creek, where a massive
fish kill occurred in September 2009.
Dunkard is a tributary of the Monongahela River.
The Steele Shaft facility is operated by AMD Reclamation Inc., a
nonprofit affiliate of Dana that was set up in 2003 to provide
emergency treatment of water that threatened to break out of the
abandoned Shannopin Mine, which operated from 1914 through 1992.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.