Dunkard Creek Lawsuit Reaches a Settlement
Morgantown Dominion Post
4 August 2015
By David Beard
MORGANTOWN -- The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has
reached a tentative agreement with Murray Energy in the 2011
lawsuit filed in connection with the 2009 Dunkard Creek fish kill.
“We’ve reached a tentative settlement but will not announce the
details of the settlement until an agreement has been signed,”
Fish and Boat Commission spokesman Eric Levis said Tuesday, Aug.
4.
Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent also verified the tentative
agreement, noting that the company inherited the suit from CONSOL
Energy when it bought CONSOL’s five area mines.
“The settlement in this case is not yet final,” Broadbent said,
“and therefore, we are unable to comment on it, except to say that
the circumstances that lead to the loss of aquatic life in Dunkard
Creek in 2009 was caused by a naturally occurring golden algae
bloom. While this bloom was unfortunate, Dunkard Creek is
recovering naturally, at a very rapid rate, and aquatic life is
now thriving. Murray Energy Corp. was not involved in the events
or circumstances in this case in any way, as it assumed the
defense of this action after its acquisition of Consolidation Coal
Company in December, 2013.”