A Victory in Fayette County

On February 4, U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver issued a significant ruling in a water pollution case against Powellton Coal, a CONSOL subsidiary that had been doing mountaintop removal in Fayette County.

Powellton logging roads and other obvious traces of this mining are already visible from West Virginias iconic New River Gorge Bridge.

Although the mountaintop removal machines have not been operating on Gauley Mountain for approximately six months, Powellton has been aggressively seeking permit approval to expand their mining on Gauley Mountain near Ansted, WV.

Judge Copenhaver ruled that Powellton violated both the federal Clean Water Act and the federal Surface Mining Act regarding water emissions into a naturally reproducing trout stream. The judge ruled in our favor on many allegations of water pollution violations and wants to hear more evidence regarding other allegations.

The federal case was brought by the Sierra Club and the Ansted Historic Preservation Council (several OVEC members and staff are active with the AHPC). AHPC president Katheryne Hoffman, Appalachian Center attorney Derek Teaney and the Sierra Club deserve our heartfelt thanks for persevering in this case!

Judge Copenhavens ruling supports citizens rights to file federal Clean Water Act lawsuits to try to force companies to stop violating water-pollution limits, even when the WV DEP makes deals with coal companies to resolve water-pollution violations in a way that is unacceptable to citizens.

Plaintiffs alleged that Powellton has accrued more than 6,700 violations of the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Act at its Bridge Fork Surface Mine, Sugarcamp Loadout and Rich Creek Haulroad.

The plaintiff groups have also been challenging WV DEP for re-issuing mining permits for Powellton, even though the company had unresolved environmental violations.

For more details, see: tinyurl.com/Vic-Fayette.