Groups seek to overturn renewal of mine permit

By Steve Keenan

Two groups have appealed a permit for the Bridge Fork West Surface Mine overlooking the Gauley River.

Citing unacceptable threats to local communities, world-class whitewater rapids and historic sites, the Sierra Club and the Ansted Historic Preservation Council (AHPC) continued their opposition of a permit for the 463.8-acre mine site located between the New and Gauley rivers. The mine is operated by Powellton Coal Company, a subsidiary of Fola Coal Company and Consol Energy.

The surface mine permit was renewed by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on March 16. At an informal conference in mid-February at Ansted Middle School, over 100 people — many of them opposed — gathered to discuss the renewal request with DEP officials.

On Thursday, the two groups mailed an appeal to the W.Va. Surface Mine Board, according to Derek Teaney of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. They insist that Powellton Coal is violating the Clean Water Act by dumping illegal levels of toxic aluminum, iron and suspended solids into Rich Creek, a trout stream that feeds into the Gauley River.

“This permit renewal would lead to pollution of our famed rivers, more blasting and air pollution, and more damage to our tourism industry, so we firmly oppose this renewal,” said Father Roy Gene Crist, AHPC president.

“The region in which Powellton’s mine is located is one of West Virginia’s tourism gems, and the New and Gauley are the premier whitewater rafting rivers in the East. Rich Creek of the Gauley River, in whose watershed Powellton operates ... is a known trout stream,” reads a portion of the appeal. “Yet Powellton treats the streams and lands surrounding its permit areas as dumping grounds for the waste from its mine.”

The Gauley River boasts more than 100 major rapids and a 650-foot vertical drop and is a destination for whitewater enthusiasts from around the world, the groups pointed out in a press release.

“These rivers are premier world-class scenic and recreational attractions,” said Jim Sconyers, state chapter chair of the Sierra Club. “We can’t afford to ruin them.”

According to the release, more than 3,000 public comments came in to the DEP in opposition of the permit. And the National Park Service expressed its opposition to the permit in a January letter to the DEP from Don Striker, superintendent of the New River Gorge National River, Gauley River National Recreational Area and Bluestone National Scenic River.

“In consideration of the water quality violations at this site, apparent violations at other mine sites operated by Powellton, and the cumulative impacts to the environment, we request that DEP deny this permit renewal until a full evaluation of cumulative effects can occur with public input,” Striker wrote.

Saying it is illegal to renew permits when existing permits are being violated, the groups argue that Powellton didn’t merit a permit renewal. In the filing, the Sierra Club and the AHPC pointed out numerous notices of violation (NOVs) in Powellton’s current permit, at least some of which haven’t abated. Instead of denying the application, according to the appeal, the DEP “ignored the record before it and stated, without any support, that it found that ‘the operation is in compliance.’ ” At the least, the DEP should have completed a supplemental cumulative hydrological impact analysis (CHIA) before renewing the permit, the appeal says.

“The DEP has shown that it cares little for the economy of West Virginia by allowing the coal industry to continue to diminish the beauty of the New and Gauley river area,” said Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Bill Price in Charleston.

On Jan. 20, Teaney submitted a letter to the DEP’s regional office in Oak Hill outlining concerns with renewal of the permit.

He wrote that, according to discharge monitoring reports for WV/NPDES Permit No. WV1019449 through last September, the company “routinely violates” minimum effluent levels allowed in relation to the “quantity of suspended solids, iron, manganese and aluminum, among other pollutants, that Powellton may discharge from its Bridge Fork West Surface Mine into unnamed tributaries.”

Consol officials, meanwhile, believe the topic of the suit has been dealt with already.

“The groups who filed this appeal made similar comments during the review process, and we responded to those comments as part of the normal review/approval process,” said Tom Hoffman, CONSOL Energy’s senior vice president of external affairs. “… this is merely a renewal of an existing permit; we believe it was appropriately issued by DEP, and we will, of course, be prepared to defend the validity of the appeal.”

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