Tentative settlement reached in Dunkard Creek fish kill
Hundreds of different types of fish, including a large number of muskies such as the ones in this photo, were found dead along Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in September 2009, after golden algae bloomed in the Monongalia County stream. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission filed a lawsuit against Consol in September 2011 after claiming that discharges from coal mines in northern West Virginia that were then owned by CONSOL — now owned by Murray Energy Corp. — entered Dunkard Creek, contributing to the massive fish kill. A tentative settlement was recently reached in the matter.
Hundreds of different types of fish, including a large number of muskies such as the ones in this photo, were found dead along Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in September 2009, after golden algae bloomed in the Monongalia County stream. A $2.5 million settlement was recently reached in the matter.
Hundreds of different types of fish, including a large number of muskies such as the ones in this photo, were found dead along Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in September 2009, after golden algae bloomed in the Monongalia County stream. A $2.5 million settlement was reached in the matter in September.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission recently reached a tentative settlement in a lawsuit originally filed against Consol Energy, nearly three years after PFBC filed suit alleging that Consol was responsible for the massive Dunkard Creek fish kill in September 2009.
A spokesman from the Monongalia County, W.Va., clerk of courts office said Wednesday that a trial was scheduled to be held Tuesday in circuit court, but the trial was removed from the court calendar after the court was notified that a settlement had been reached.
The commission filed the lawsuit against Consol in September 2011 in Monongalia County court for civil damages resulting from what the commission called a “devastating” 2009 pollution incident in which discharges from coal mines in northern West Virginia that were then owned by Consol entered Dunkard Creek, contributing to a massive fish kill spanning nearly 30 miles of stream in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The mines in question were purchased by Murray Energy Corp. in December 2013, according to information found on Murray Energy Corp.’s website. Though the Messenger was unable to reach Murray Energy for comment by press time, various other media outlets have reported that although Consol was named as a defendant in the suit, the liability was inherited by Murray Energy following its purchase of the mines.
Gary Broadbent, spokesman for Murray Energy, stated in an email Wednesday that the settlement is not final and therefore he was unable to comment on it.
However, he did state in the email that “Murray Energy Corporation 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.”
Broadbent also stated in the email that “the circumstances that led 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.”
The PFBC lawsuit was seeking compensatory damages for the lost aquatic life and lost fishing opportunities for Pennsylvania anglers and punitive damages to deter future pollution.
“The devastation to Dunkard Creek was astonishing,” said PFBC Executive Director John Arway, in a written statement issued by the commission on the day the lawsuit was filed. “PFBC biologists estimated that over 42,000 fish, over 15,000 freshwater mussels and over 6,000 mudpuppies were killed. They also estimated that a large number of angler trips have been lost as a result of the fish kill.”
The commission, acting as the state’s “trustee of these aquatic natural resources,” was seeking compensation for the losses that occurred, according to the statement.
In early September 2009, the total fish and mussel kill occurred in the creek after high concentrations of chloride and total dissolved solids in the discharge from Consol’s Blacksville No. 2 mine in West Virginia created brackish water conditions favorable for a bloom of toxic golden algae, according to the statement; the Dunkard Creek main stem begins near the town of Brave and meanders approximately 37 miles between Pennsylvania and West Virginia until its confluence with the Monongahela River near Dunkard Township.
PFBC biologists collected 40 species of fish and 14 species of mussels that were killed by the incident.; among the dead mussels was the Pennsylvania endangered snuffbox mussel, according to the statement.
“This was a popular warm water fishery,” Arway said in the statement. “It will take decades to restore it to its prior condition.”
PFBC filed lawsuits in West Virginia and in Pennsylvania seeking monetary relief against Consol for damages to the natural resources of Pennsylvania and lost recreational opportunities for Pennsylvania anglers.
According to the statement, Consol reached settlements in March 2011 with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The company agreed to pay a $5.5 million civil penalty to settle hundreds of federal Clean Water Act violations at six of its mines in West Virginia over the past four years, including the Blacksville No. 2 mine.
Consol also agreed to compensate West Virginia for the natural resources lost in the West Virginia portion of Dunkard Creek by paying $500,000 to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, according to the statement.