Consol agrees to pay $5.5 million in fines
Consol Energy agreed on Monday to pay a $5.5 million civil fine for federal Clean Water Act violations at six of its West Virginia mines, including two that discharge wastewater into Dunkard Creek, and to pay $500,000 to West Virginia for the massive fish kill in the creek in 2009.
In addition, Consol, the nation’s largest producer of coal from underground mines, agreed to build a $200 million plant to treat discharges from four northern West Virginia mines, including the Blacksville No. 2 and Loveridge mines, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) blamed for the fish kill.
Consol will pay half of the $5.5 million fine to the federal government and half to West Virginia, according to a proposed consent decree and complaint the U.S. Justice Department filed on behalf of EPA in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg, W.Va.
Although many of Dunkard Creek’s 42 miles run through Greene County before its confluence with the Monongahela River, Pennsylvania is not part of the settlement.
The decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval.
”We are committed to cleaning up the waters of Dunkard Creek and the Monongahela (River) watershed and holding those who pollute it accountable,” said Shawn M. Garvin, an EPA regional administrator. “The centerpiece of this settlement, a new advanced wastewater treatment plant, will substantially reduce pollution by keeping nearly 100 million pounds of total dissolved solids (TDS), including chloride from reaching these waterways each year.”
The decree strikes a balance between protecting the environment and Consol, according to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Consol has more than 3,500 employees, produces more than 30 million tons of coal a year from its mines in West Virginia and has 18 active mines in six states.
”Today’s agreement is an example of how we can protect the environment in accordance with the law while maintaining the economic engine that our state depends upon,” said West Virginia DEP Secretary Randy Huffman. “In the day immediately following the fish kill in Dunkard Creek, Consol voluntarily worked with the DEP and EPA to proactively manage their mining operations to minimize the risk for another algae outbreak while at the same time keeping their miners working.”
Consol President Nick DeIuliis echoed those comments.
”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,” he said.
However, the EPA’s complain alleges six Consol mines violated the pollution discharge limits in their Clean Water Act permits hundreds of times over the last four years.
Discharges of chloride that exceeded permits were chronic at the Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge, Robinson Run and Four States mines, which are in the Monongahela River watershed, and the Shoemaker and Windsor mines, which discharge into tributaries of the Ohio River, according to the EPA.
The complaint alleges that discharges containing high amounts of chloride and TDS from Blacksville and Loveridge contributed to the conditions that impaired aquatic life and led to the golden algae bloom in Dunkard Creek.
Thousands of fish, mussels and amphibians died in the September 2009 fish kill.
The DEP said toxins produced by the algae, which are not native to the state, killed the aquatic life, but the source of the algae has never been determined. The department said nutrients and high levels of chlorides and TDS could contribute to algae growth.
Consol said its operations did not cause the algae bloom.
Studies show aquatic life is making a significant in the creek.
A month after the fish kill, a survey conducted at one station in the creek found only four species of fish. A survey at the same station in July 2010 revealed 29 species, which is close to the 33 found at that station in 2005, according to the DEP.
Minnows, darters and suckers are returning to the creek from tributaries, but it will probably take decades for the mussel population to return, according to the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.
The creek has been free of golden algae since January 2010, the DEP said.
To help keep Dunkard Creek and the rest of the Monongahela River watershed clean, Consol agreed to build a $200 million reverse osmosis treatment plant for discharges from the Blacksville, Loveridge, Four States and Robinson Run mines near the Robinson Run Mine in Mannington, Marion County, W.Va., by May 2013. Pipelines would carry discharges from the mines to the plant.
It would be the largest plant of that type in the Appalachian region and capable of treating 3,500 gallons a minute, according to the EPA. The plant will eliminate more than 96 million pounds of TDS and 11 million pounds of chloride from the wastewater from the mines, the EPA said.