Alpha Natural Resources Coal Company Sued Over Alleged Selenium Discharges

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two Alpha Natural Resources Inc. subsidiaries are being sued by environmental groups who claim selenium discharges at a surface mine and a coal slurry impoundment in southern West Virginia have violated federal clean water and surface mining laws.

The federal lawsuit claims discharges from Independence Coal's Crescent No. 2 Surface Mine in Boone County and from Marfork Coal's 7-billion-gallon Brushy Fork impoundment in Raleigh County exceed state water quality standards for selenium. The lawsuit also alleges that the discharges violate the companies' discharge permits.

Federal and state regulators have not taken any action since the plaintiffs notified them of the alleged violations and the intent to sue on March 9, the lawsuit said.

The Sierra Club, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Coal River Mountain Watch filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Huntington. The groups' members have refrained from fishing, swimming and other recreational activities or enjoy these activities less because of the selenium discharges into tributaries of the Big Coal and Little Coal rivers, the lawsuit said.

The groups also said in a news release that many local residents are concerned about their ability to evacuate if the Brushy Fork impoundment failed. The groups said such an event would eclipse the 1972 Buffalo Creek dam collapse that killed 125 people.

"Brushy Fork has engendered fear and dread in citizens seemingly forever," Jim Sconyers, chairman of the West Virginia Sierra Club, said in the release. "This legal action will dispel at least one component of that dread — the needless and unlawful pollution of streams that are a key part of citizens' lives."

Ted Pile, a spokesman for Virginia-based Alpha, said the company's operations are in compliance with water quality standards. He also said regulators have determined the Brushy Fork impoundment is safe and in compliance with government standards.

"Also, insinuating that we routinely break the law, with acquiescence of state regulators, is offensive and unnecessarily provocative. We believe that the plaintiffs in this suit should exercise greater restraint in their public claims," Pile said Thursday in a statement.

Alpha requires its operations to follow an environmental management program that is designed to ensure discharges are within permit limits. In 2011, the water quality compliance rate of Alpha's operations was 99.7 percent, he said.

Pile also said the company plans to construct a treatment plant for selenium at the Crescent mine and is investing in new treatment technologies.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the companies to comply with their permits and require them to remedy environmental damage. It also seeks civil penalties of up to $37,500 per day for each alleged violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

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Comments

[trueblueredstater]

01:20 PM on 05/12/2012

Another reason for the Chamber of Commerce to push 'tort control' ...
get the maximum penalties for corporate malfeasance down to where they are simply one more cost of doing business.
Maybe a $100/day fine max?

[dtroppy]

12:41 PM on 05/12/2012

GREEN ENERGY......NOW.....

[Debbie Gunning Perry]

12:16 PM on 05/12/2012

I understand that West Virginia is desperately in need of jobs and their way of life has always been coal mining. At what cost are we continuing to mine and drill for oil for that matter. The big oil and electric companies have made it impossible for alternative energy to be researched. Why can we all not be able to afford a solar panel or two on on homes.....Of course the big guys don't want us to be self reliant and help save some of our earth. Big money always wins. Big money keeps unsafe mines open regardless of how many lives they give to keep them open. It's time for alternatives at a reasonable price.

[g9]

12:58 PM on 05/11/2012

go ahead ted....attact the people that want clean water for the future of the children , instead of facing the TRUTH.....( lets not forget the health related problems from ted's air polution also)

[lightningbolt]

09:47 AM on 05/11/2012

As long as corporations can bribe our politicians legally with campaign donations, they will continue to have a green light to do whatever they want, regardless of how many people they kill or sicken with their pollution.

[lightningbolt]

09:46 AM on 05/11/2012

We need to push the government to create a massive investment in clean renewable energy and stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.

[mnyegele]

09:44 AM on 05/11/2012

From what I gather about West Virginia, the people in West Virginia hate Obama and hate the EPA for trying to make coal mining safer and for trying to keep coal companies from poisoning their children.

I don't understand. Why do I, a gay who lives on the Left Coast, care more about West Virginia's coal miners and their children than the people of West Virginia?

[Jessica Cox]

12:25 PM on 05/11/2012

Jobs, jobs, jobs.. it is their likelihoods at stake

[Debbie Davis Graff]

08:16 PM on 05/10/2012

Ted Pile, that you take offense at something so blatantly true is unfortunate. If someone only insinuates that the coal industry breaks laws regularly they are exercising restraint.