CONSOL Sued By Pa. Group
Company blamed for fish, animal deaths
Morgantown Dominion Post
8 September 2011
From Staff & Wire Reports
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission sued CONSOL Energy Inc.
on Wednesday for the deaths of thousands of fish and other animals
along a 30-mile stretch of Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania and West
Virginia.
The Greene County, Pa., lawsuit followed a similar complaint that
the commission filed last week in Monongalia County over the 2009
fish kill.
The commission blamed discharges from CONSOL mines for the deaths
of about 43,000 fish, 15,000 mussels and 6,500 mudpuppies. It said
it will take decades for the stream to return to health.
Lynn Seay, CONSOL’s media relations director, said company
officials had not seen the lawsuits and would not comment until
they did.
The lawsuit also names as defendants Consolidation Coal Co. and
Windsor Coal Co., both located at CONSOL’S headquarters in
Canonsburg.
The Monongalia County suit states and alleges:
The defendants are required to monitor in-stream chloride (salt)
levels under their West Virginia National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
From May 1-Nov. 30, 2009, at least, defendants discharged amounts
of chloride (salt) from their Loveridge Outlet 016 “St. Leo” that
exceeded the daily maximum amounts allowed in the NPDES permit,
and above levels required to protect aquatic life.
From Aug.1-Sept. 19, 2009, at least, excessive levels were
discharged from the defendants’ Blacksville 2 Outlet 015 “Velone
Pond,” also endangering aquatic life.
Sampling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) showed
high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in Dunkard, including
19.05 kilometers inside Pennsylvania. High TDS levels support the
growth of golden algae, which is toxic to aquatic life and led to
the massive kill.
About 1,455 angler trips were lost from Sept. 16-Nov. 30, 2009,
and an expected total 15,299 trips will be lost through 2018.
In the immediate aftermath of the kill, both suits say, other fish
were lethargic, with many congregating at the mouths of small
tributaries and some seen gulping for air at the surface, the
lawsuit said.
“Inspection of the stressed and dying fish revealed that their
gills were inflamed, blood vessels were dilated or ruptured and
tissues were abnormally reddish” near their gills, commission
lawyers wrote in the West Virginia complaint.
The September 2009 fish kill on the tributary of the Monongahela
River left the stream tea-colored and devoid of nearly all life,
with only water bugs and some minnows from feeder streams still
alive.
Plaintiffs are seeking damages for nuisance, trespass and
negligence; for liability for the high TDS levels, the loss of
aquatic life, angler trips and general use of the creek, and
cleanup costs; and punitive damages.
In March, the West Virginia DEP and the Division of Natural
Resources reached a settlement with the same three defendants in
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Pennsylvania.
The company agreed to pay $500,000 for natural resource damages, a
$5.5 million civil penalty and $200 million to build an advanced
water treatment plant to address high chloride levels from its
four underground mines in the state.
The DEP said in March, “In the days immediately following the fish
kill in Dunkard Creek, CONSOL voluntarily worked with the DEP and
the EPA to proactively manage their mining operations to minimize
the risk of another algae outbreak while at the same time keeping
their miners working.”
The DNR noted that fish are returning to Dunkard, and the DEP
added that it will monitor the creek for golden algae for the next
four or five years to make sure it was an isolated event.
Asked on Wednesday about the Pennsylvania suits, West Virginia DEP
spokesman Tom Aluise said DEP is aware of them and will watch them
with interest. Its business with the defendants is concluded.
“Through joint action with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency against CONSOL,” he said, “we have resolved the state’s
natural resource damages and both state and federal water
pollution damages.”