State Still Reviewing Proposed Mine Permit
DEP: No timeline for final approval
Morgantown Dominion Post
29 July 2010
By David Beard
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is still
reviewing Patriot Mining Co.’s permit application for a 225-acre
expansion of its Cassville-area surface mine, state officials said this
week.
“It is still pending review of technical corrections,” said Clarence
Wright, DEP senior engineer and application review team leader.
There is no timetable for final approval, added DEP spokesman Tom
Aluise. “When it is technically complete, it will be sent to Charleston
with our recommendations.”
The DEP’s application milestone record shows there are five steps left
in the process, with referral to Charleston being the final step.
The next step will be review and recommendation by the U.S. Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
The permit application has a number of opponents, including mine
neighbors Jim and Petra Wood and the Sierra Club.
The Woods sent a 15-page letter — as well as pictures — to the DEP in
May listing their concerns: Sleep deprivation and stress from 24-hour
mining operations, mine proximity to public travel routes, blasting
hazards and damage, fly ash dumping, water quality and productive use
of private property in the mine’s vicinity.
Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter member Jim Kotcon said the club
opposes the proposed expansion of the permit because of the possible
hazards stemming from “unregulated dumping of fly ash on the site.”
Fly ash is a product of coal combustion, Patriot and DEP officials
previously said, and is trucked to area surface mines from Morgantown
Energy Associates’ power plant for mine reclamation — to prevent acid
mine drainage.
The problem, Kotcon said this week, is that runoff monitoring is
inadequate, the DEP is using an outdated and inadequate test for
measuring fly-ash toxicity, and there isn’t sufficient provision to
prevent contamination of streams and groundwater.
Kotcon said the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) is aware the
DEP’s fly-ash test is inadequate, and is proposing new rules for
fly-ash disposal — but the rules won’t apply to surface mines, which
fall under the U.S. Office of Surface Mining.
There are already surface mines in the area, Kotcon said, including
Patriot’s current operation, and there is some data to suggest
pollution is ongoing, but there’s no way to determine how extensive
contamination might be or to what extent it may contribute to pollution
of Scotts Run.
DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said mine surface and ground water
locations are sampled for pertinent metals as determined by the
Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), based on studies
completed in 2007, and baseline water quality sampling.
Additional, updated flyash information will be required from the
company on a yearly basis, she said. When the permit is renewed,
additional testing is required and the parameters can be adjusted if
necessary.
When the EPA commented on this permit, she said, it had no issues with
the TCLP or leachate studies.
“So we would argue,” she said, “that the agency has adequate
information and data upon whichto base a decision and should the permit
be approved, the company would have to adhere to the monitoring program
that is built into the requirements of the permit.”
The DEP held a public meeting at the end of May to hear public concerns
about the application, but Kotcon said he hasn’t seen the revised
paperwork to know if the concerns have been addressed.
Cosco previously told The Dominion Post, “All environmental
concerns are analyzed in the review process. Applicable environmental
concerns [dust, water quality, property issues, etc.] must have a plan
that outlines how the proposed operation will comply with the law and
regulations.”
Patriot Mining Co. (not the same as Patriot Coal, which operates in
southern West Virginia) is a subsidiary of International Coal Group.
Patriot General Manager Vaughn Miller previously told The Dominion
Post, “We believe that the combination of a carefully designed and
thoroughly reviewed mine permit application and the conscientious
implementation of the approved plan will allow the mine project to
coexist peacefully with the local community.”