Consol signs consent decree affecting Bailey complex
Federal and state officials said Thursday that Consol Energy and some of its subsidiaries have accepted a consent decree requiring extensive water management and monitoring activities at Consol’s Bailey Mine Complex near Enon in Greene and Washington counties.
The decree filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh also requires Southpointe-based Consol to pay a $3 million civil penalty for Clean Water Act violations involving discharges from the Bailey complex into waterways that lead to Wheeling Creek and in turn the Ohio River.
“We will continue to vigorously protect our District’s waterways and other vital natural resources,” Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton said in a statement issued by the Justice Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia-based EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin said actions required in the settlement “represent a major step forward in protecting local waterways and the health of communities.”
The statement quoted the acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as calling the state’s waterways a top priority, but also recognizing efforts by Consol to deal with pollution of the waterways.
“Consol has agreed to improve their facilities to prevent future discharges, and the actions (filed Thursday) will go a long way towards ensuring Pennsylvania’s waters are protected,” acting Secretary Patrick McDonnell said.
Consol officials said the Southpointe-based company has been taking steps for several years to address past surface water management challenges experienced at the Bailey complex, which straddles the line between Richhill Township in Greene County and East Finley Township in Washington County.
“Prior to 2011, we proactively identified the issue and invested millions of dollars in comprehensive, technology-based water management solutions to ensure continued environmental compliance,” Consol spokesman Brian Aiello said. “We took these proactive measures because we are committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where we live and work.”
The government filed a complaint concurrently with the proposed settlement, which alleged chronic exceedances of osmotic pressure or OP and other limits in Consol’s Clean Water Act discharge permits. The discharges primarily enter into tributaries of the Ohio River including Wheeling Creek which empties into the Ohio at the city of Wheeling, W.Va.
The Justice Department described OP as the standard used in Pennsylvania to protect aquatic life from excess amounts of total dissolved solids, saying too much TDS going into a water body can increase the salinity of the water and harm aquatic life and impact drinking water quality.
The Justice Department said the measures included in the consent decree will continue to reduce TDS in mining waters discharged from the Bailey complex. EPA estimated that implementation of the consent decree by Consol will eliminate more than 2.5 million pounds of TDS pollutants.
The decree was signed on July 12 by James A. Brock in his roles as Consol’s top coal operations officer, including CEO of Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co. and CNX Coal Resources GP LLC and vice president and chief operating officer for Consol Energy Inc.’s coal operations.
“This settlement reflects a cooperative effort with state and federal agencies, and recognizes the work done by Consol to achieve and maintain compliance,” Aiello said.
The consent decree requires three payments of $1 million apiece, to be made after final court approval. The first payment of $1 million will be due within 30 days after the decree takes effect, the second within 150 days of that effective date and the third no later than Jan. 15, 2018.
The Justice Department said the filing Thursday starts the clock on a 30-day public comment period before final court approval can be handed down. The decree can be found online at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.