Holding More Coal Mines in WV Accountable for Toxic Selenium Pollution With Additional Court Actions

In early December 2010, OVEC, the WV Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra Club took legal action to hold two coal mining companies accountable for dumping harmful amounts of toxic selenium into local waterways.

Selenium is a toxic pollutant that causes deformities and reproductive problems in fish and amphibians. 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.

"For far too long, these companies have put profits over people," said Dianne Bady, Co-Director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. "The companies need to learn that our streams and waterways are not their private dumping grounds."

Maple Coal Company, a subsidiary of Western Coal, is releasing unlawfully high amounts of toxic selenium into Paint Creek and Armstrong Creek from two surface mines on the border of Fayette and Kanawha Counties. Toxic selenium from Paynter Branch Mining operations in Wyoming County is flowing into Huff Creek.

This pollution confirms a pattern of toxic selenium discharges from coal mines across West Virginia. The citizen enforcement action follows several recent lawsuits filed by the groups against other mine operators including Massey Energy, Arch Coal and Patriot Coal. These suits seek to hold those companies accountable for their selenium discharge violations.

In August 2010, a federal judge in West Virginia ordered Patriot to install technology at two of its mines to treat selenium pollution at an estimated total cost of $45 million.

"The coal companies behavior is just the same old story. The companies want us to pay through harm to aquatic life and risk to human health for their illegal pollution. Sorry, but its high time they pay to make it stop," said Jim Sconyers, Chair of the Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter.

Although the Clean Water Act permits held by the mine operators include limits on the amount of selenium the mines can discharge, the DEP has consistently given the operators extensions on the amount of time they have to bring their discharges below those limits.

As a result, the operators continue to discharge selenium at levels above the limits considered safe by DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The most recent extensions expired by April 5, 2010. Rather than lower their pollution, the operators have tried a variety of legal tactics to avoid compliance, and have continued dumping dangerous amounts of toxic pollution into West Virginia waterways.

"Its past time that these companies acknowledge the problems being created by their discharges and clean up their act.　 Its also past time that the state regulatory agency recognize the severity of the selenium problems, properly enforce permits, and avoid granting permits that will add to our already overwhelming long-term water liabilities at mine sites," said Cindy Rank of the WV Highlands Conservancy.

The groups filed their legal challenges in the Southern District of West Virginia and are represented by attorneys with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.