Coal firm to pay record fine for water pollution

An environmental worker checks a river polluted by coal mining operations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the nation's largest coal producers will pay a US$27.5 million fine and spend US$200 million to reduce illegal toxic discharges into hundreds of waterways across five Appalachian states, according to a proposed settlement announced recently. 

The agreement includes the largest fine ever for violations of water pollution permits, with many of the violations reported by the company to state environmental officials. The Associated Press obtained details about the settlement before it was filed Wednesday in federal court in West Virginia.

The discharges occurred at mines and coal processing plants in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

"This is the largest one, period," Cynthia Giles, head of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement office, told the AP. "It's the biggest case for permit violations for numbers of violations and size of the penalty, which reflects the seriousness of violations."

The government says that between 2006 and 2013, Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and dozens of subsidiaries violated water pollution limits in state-issued permits more than 6,000 times. They discharged heavy metals and other contaminants harmful to fish and other wildlife from nearly 800 outfall pipes directly into rivers, streams and tributaries, according to the government. There is no evidence that any of the violations contaminated drinking water, EPA officials said.

Monitoring records attached to the complaint show that in some cases, the releases exceeded permit limits by as much as 35 times.

Under the agreement, the mine operators will install wastewater treatment systems and take other measures aimed at reducing discharges from 79 active coal mines and 25 coal-processing plants in those five states.

Bristol, Va.-based Alpha, the nation's third largest coal supplier, estimates those steps will cost about US$200 million.

Gene Kitts, Alpha's vice president for environmental affairs, said the company, which has 700 state water permits and 5,000 different discharge points, is in compliance with the Clean Water Act 99.8 per cent of the time.

"That's a strong record of compliance," Kitts said in a statement. "But our goal is to do even better, and the consent decree provides an opportunity to proactively focus on improving the less than 1 percent of the time that permits are exceeded."

Half of the US$27.5 the fine will go to the federal government; the other half will be divided among West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

But advocacy groups said state and federal authorities needed to do more to prevent the pollution from occurring in the first place.

"Levying fines after the fact does nothing for the communities and waterways already harmed," said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's coal campaign.

Alpha's Kitts said in an interview with AP that the states lack resources to keep tabs on the violations the companies report and to follow up.

"That system has not worked very well," Kitts said. "The states get the reports, the question is what happens at that point."

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, D-W.Va., said his share of the fine — US$8.9 million — will be spent on stricter enforcement of the laws at the state level.

"We still appreciate coal mining jobs and the investments here in West Virginia, but they've got to be responsible," Tomblin said.

The settlement comes nearly two months after the water supply for 300,000 people in and around Charleston, W. Va., was temporarily undrinkable after the spill of a coal-cleaning chemical on the banks of the Elk River.

Last month, a ruptured pipe underneath a coal ash impoundment at a Duke Energy power plant polluted the waters of the Dan River in North Carolina. State environmental officials in that case have cited Duke for not obtaining the proper permits for discharges into waterways.

The settlement with Alpha covers a different source of water pollution from coal — from mines and from the processing plants where the coal is prepared for shipping.