CONSOL Agrees to Stream Cleanup Settlement
Charleston Gazette
30 November 2011
By Ken Ward Jr.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- CONSOL Energy has signed on to a legal
settlement that marks the first time a coal company has agreed to
clean up conductivity pollution associated with a valley fill, an
environmental group lawyer said Wednesday.
Under the deal, CONSOL could eventually be forced to install an
expensive treatment system to clean up water quality violations in
Boardtree Branch related to the subsidiary Fola Coal's Surface
Mine No. 3 in Clay and Nicholas counties.
The settlement, which requires approval from U.S. District Judge
John T. Copenhaver, resolves a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club
and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy in October 2010.
Lawyers for the groups alleged that the mine was discharging
pollutants that cause acute and chronic toxicity and biological
impairment to the aquatic life in Boardtree Branch. The suit cited
the state's narrative water quality standard, meant to protect
aquatic life, and increased electrical conductivity related to the
mine's pollution.
Scientists use electrical conductivity as a key indicator of
stream health and the presence of other important pollutants such
as chlorides, sulfides and dissolved solids. Recent research has
found increased conductivity downstream from mining operations in
Appalachia and scientists have linked impaired aquatic life to
those increased conductivity levels.
Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state
Environmental Quality Board have cited conductivity increases
downstream from mining operations as a key problem the state
Department of Environmental Protection isn't doing enough about.
Under the settlement, CONSOL will first be able to try its own
version of a stream restoration project, involving creation of a
floodplain and sulfate-reducing wetlands, to clean up about 3,000
feet of Boardtree Branch. Biological samples will be taken after
the project and an independent biologist will decide if aquatic
life has improved.
If the CONSOL project doesn't work, the company will be on the
hook to build a more expensive treatment system at the site, the
settlement says.
"It's significant because for the first time a coal operator has
agreed to comply with the narrative water quality standard related
to a valley fill," said Joe Lovett of Appalachian Mountain
Advocates, a lawyer for citizen groups that filed the case.
"It's scientifically indisputable that valley fills cause high
conductivity and impair life in streams. This coal company has
agreed to remedy that."
Lynn Seay, a CONSOL spokeswoman, said the agreement is "consistent
with our ongoing efforts to be good environmental stewards and
neighbors in the locations where we operate."
The agreement also requires Fola to pay $200,000 to the West
Virginia Land Trust to help fund the West Virginia University
College of Law's new Land Use and Sustainable Development Clinic.
The company must also pay a $25,000 fine to the federal
government.
Earlier this year, CONSOL had agreed to build a $200 million
treatment system aimed at resolving water quality problems at four
of its mining complexes in north-central West Virginia.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.