CONSOL to pay $5.5M in penalties
Penalized for Clean Water Act violations
Morgantown Dominion Post
5 March 2011
By Alex Lang
CONSOL Energy has agreed to pay $5.5 million in penalties and build a
water treatment facility for “hundreds” of violations of the Clean
Water Act.
U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia William J.
Ihlenfeld II announced the settlement at a press conference Monday. The
settlement is between CONSOL, the Department of Justice, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the West Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“West Virginians deserve a healthy and safe environment in which to
live,” Ihlenfeld said.
The settlement alleges six CONSOL mines violated pollution discharge
limits numerous times during the past four years. The discharge came
from the Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge, Robinson Run, Four States,
Shoemaker and Windsor mines. Blacksville, Loveridge, Robinson Run and
Four States discharge into tributaries of the Monongahela River.
Shoemaker and Windsor mines discharge into tributaries of the Ohio
River.
The $5.5 million is a civil penalty and the money will be divided
between the federal government and the DEP, said Scott Manderola,
director of the DEP’s Division of Water and Waste Management. The
state’s money will go to the water quality management fund.
In addition to the civil fine, CONSOL agreed to build a waste water
treatment facility near Mannington. The facility will use reverse
osmosis to treat discharge water. It is part of $200 million the
company is spending in pollution controls.
“This action will pay dividends for decades to come,” said Shawn
Garvin, EPA regional administrator.
Garvin said that facility will keep one million pounds of
total-dissolved-solids (TDS) from local waterways every year. It will
be the largest facility of its kind in the Appalachian region.
TDS in mine discharge water helped create conditions that allowed a
golden algae to bloom and release a toxin that caused a massive fish
kill in Dunkard Creek in 2009.
Monday’s announcement was made near Mason-Dixon Historical Park on the
banks of Dunkard Creek.
The head of the environmental division of the Department of Justice
Ignacia Moreno said the settlement will ensure the protection of human
health and the environment.
The settlement “without a doubt” will lead to a reduction of pollution,
Moreno said.
In a press release, CONSOL said it pays the civil fine without
admitting any liability. CONSOL voluntarily stopped discharging into
Dunkard after the fish kill, but has since resumed. The treatment
facility is scheduled to be operational in May 2013.
“We currently employ more than 3,500 people and produce more than 30
million tons of coal per year from our reserves in West Virginia,”
CONSOL Energy President Nick DeIuliis said in the release. “As one of
the largest operators and employers in the state, we take seriously our
role as stewards of the land and are proud of our track record on
environmental excellence. This agreement represents a concrete,
proactive demonstration of that commitment.”
In a separate settlement CONSOL agreed to pay $500,000 to the West
Virginia DEP for natural resources damages in Dunkard Creek. Some of
the money will be used to restock fish in Dunkard Creek, spokeswoman
Kathy Cosco said.
District 1 fisheries biologist for the state’s Department of Natural
Resources Frank Jernejcic said some of the fish are starting to return
to the stream. But, it will probably be a few years before the
department stocks adult fish because they have to wait for food for the
fish to return.