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Groups Secure Another Key Victory in Fight to Stop Pollution from Coal Mines
Case Updates:
January 19, 2012
On January 18, a coalition of conservation and environmental groups reached a monumental agreement with Patriot Coal Corporation over high levels of selenium output at several of the company’s West Virginia coal mines. The legal settlement requires that the coal mining company and its subsidiaries treat selenium pollution at 43 outlets, including outlets previously thought to be untreatable. In a 2010 order resolving a separate action brought by the groups against Patriot, a federal judge ordered the company to treat selenium at four outlets. The company has estimated the cost of treatment at just those four outlets to be nearly $100 million. The lawsuit resolved by the settlement was brought by the Sierra Club, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
“Several years ago, the coal industry said that there was no way to treat selenium pollution from their mines,” said Jim Sconyers, Chair of the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. “But now they’re agreeing to treat that pollution. This settlement, and other recent actions against Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, shows that mining companies can do far more than they admit to clean up their pollution. Water is life. Keep it clean.”
The settlement requires Patriot to install treatment technology on a set schedule to bring selenium discharges within acceptable levels. In addition, the company will pay penalties of $7.5 million, with the vast majority of those funds directed to the West Virginia Land Trust. Patriot will be subject to significant additional penalties for any violations that occur after the compliance date for each source of pollution. The company has also agreed to abandon its permits for the 8.5 million ton Callisto Surface Mine in Boone County.
The settlement was lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. The U.S. government will have an opportunity to review the settlement before its terms take effect.
February 18, 2011
On February 18, 2011, Sierra Club and its coalfield allies took legal action to hold Patriot Coal Corporation and its subsidiaries Apogee Coal Company, Catenary Coal Company and Hobet Mining, accountable for violations of the Clean Water Act and surface mining laws associated with ten mining operations in West Virginia.
The challenge comes on the heels of a landmark decision last fall when a federal judge ordered Patriot Coal Corporation to post $45 million in secured credit to cover the anticipated costs of treating selenium at two of its coal mines in West Virginia.
“Patriot didn’t learn its lesson the first time around. They just keep polluting our waters with selenium, as if this is an acceptable way of doing business. It’s not,” said Jim Sconyers, Chair of the West Virginia Sierra Club Chapter.
Selenium, a toxic element that causes reproductive failure and deformities in fish and other forms of aquatic life, is discharged from many surface coal mining operations across Appalachia. At very high levels, selenium can pose a risk to human health, causing hair and fingernail loss, kidney and liver damage, and damage to the nervous and circulatory systems.
Selenium pollution is quickly emerging as a major issue of concern for streams and communities near coal mines. Citizen groups have filed several recent enforcement actions against coal mine operators in West Virginia that seek to hold mining companies accountable for their selenium discharge violations. The latest complaint against Patriot and its subsidiaries alleges that between the companies there were over 8,000 days of violation.
Sierra Club is joined by Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy in this lawsuit, and represented by Joe Lovett and Derek Teaney with the Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
To read more about the Club’s work to stop toxic selenium pollution from surface coal mining in Appalachia, click here and here!
Details and Documents:
Groups Secure Another Key Victory in Fight to Stop Pollution from Coal Mines
January 18, 2012, Sierra Club et al. Press Release
Environmental Groups Take Action to Hold Patriot Coal Accountable for Toxic Selenium Discharges from West Virginia Coal Mines
February 18, 2011, Sierra Club et al. Press Release
News Articles:
Patriot to pay $7.5M for W.Va. selenium discharges
January 19, 2012 by Manuel Quinones, Greenwire
More Info:
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