Coal Company hit with $20 million fine
Coal producer pays $20M pollution fine By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 17, 1:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The country's fourth-largest coal producer, Massey Energy Co., will pay a $20 million fine as part of a settlement with the government over allegations it routinely polluted hundreds of streams and waterways in West Virginia and Kentucky with sediment-filled waste water and coal slurry.
Under the agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Massey Energy, headquartered in Richmond, Va., also will invest millions of dollars for pollution control improvements at its 44 mines and coal facilities in the two states and in Virginia, the EPA and Justice Department said Thursday.
The EPA estimates the improvements required by the settlement will cost Massey as much as $10 million, although the company said the cost is expected to be less. "That's their estimate," said Shane Harvey, Massey's assistant general counsel. "We do not have a firm estimate at this time. My guess is it would be below $10 million."
The agreement settled a complaint filed by the EPA in May 2007 alleging that the company violated the federal Clean Water Act on at least 4,500 occasions between January 2000 and the end of 2006 by discharging mining waste and sediment - including hazardous metals - into hundreds of streams and waterways and failing to control spills of coal slurry during its mining operation.
Some of the waste water discharges were more than 10 times the amounts allowed by state permits, the EPA said.
Massey officials announced the agreement Thursday, noting that it would allow the company to avoid costly litigation and resolve questions about its liability for the damage. "We believe this agreement will benefit the environment as well as our shareholders," said Baxter F. Phillips Jr., the company's executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
The maximum penalties facing the company for the thousands of violations and days when permits were exceeded could have been as high as $2.4 billion, according to the EPA.
The pollution "destroyed streams, destroyed fish habitat. There was definitely an environmental impact here," Granta Nakayama, the assistant EPA administrator for enforcement, said in an interview. "We thought it was very serious."
The $20 million civil penalty is the largest ever for discharge permit violations under the Clean Water Act, said Nakayama. "This is a landmark settlement for the environment, and raises the bar for the mining industry."
As part of the agreement, Massey promises to develop and implement new procedures and tracking systems to prevent waste water discharges and slurry spills, and allow third-party audits of its pollution prevention program. The company also agrees to set aside 200 acres of riverfront land in West Virginia for conservation and protection against future mining.
Ronald Tenpas, head of the Justice Department's environment and natural resources division, said the measures agreed to by the coal company "represent a significant step forward in the way that mining facilities currently address Clean Water Act compliance."
The new pollution prevention measures are expected to keep an estimated 380 million pounds of sediment and other pollutants from Massey's mining operation out of the three states' waters each year.
The settlement concludes an EPA investigation of more than two years of Massey's mining operation. The complaint filed last May alleged that Massey routinely released metals, sediment and acid mine drainage into streams and rivers at amounts 40 percent or more than allowed by state permits.
And investigators found that Massey's operations failed to control spills of coal slurry, containing sediment and metals, allowing it to clog streams and harm fish habitat.
Massey, which reported $89 million in profits on revenues of nearly $1.7 billion for the first nine months of 2007, is the largest coal producer in the Appalachia region, operating 19 mining complexes - 33 underground and 11 surface mines as well as processing facilities - in southern Virginia, southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.
The company has been embroiled in a string of legal and environmental disputes from complaints about its hilltop mining practices and pollution of waterways to mine safety and high-profile contract disputes.
Currently its president and chairman, Don Blankenship, is at the center of conflict of interest allegations involving the chief justice of West Virginia's supreme court. Photographs surfaced with Blankenship and the justice, Elliott Maynard, socializing together on the Mediterranean last summer - four months before the court in a 3-2 decision with Maynard in the majority reversed a $76.3 million judgment against Massey in a dispute brought by a bankrupt coal company. Other problems facing Massey include a $219.8 million jury verdict awarded to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. in a contract dispute and a record $1.5 million in fines by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for safety violations involving the deaths of two miners in a January 2006 mine fire. The fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County, W.Va., also is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
Thu Jan 17, 1:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The country's fourth-largest coal producer, Massey Energy Co., will pay a $20 million fine as part of a settlement with the government over allegations it routinely polluted hundreds of streams and waterways in West Virginia and Kentucky with sediment-filled waste water and coal slurry.
Under the agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Massey Energy, headquartered in Richmond, Va., also will invest millions of dollars for pollution control improvements at its 44 mines and coal facilities in the two states and in Virginia, the EPA and Justice Department said Thursday.
The EPA estimates the improvements required by the settlement will cost Massey as much as $10 million, although the company said the cost is expected to be less. "That's their estimate," said Shane Harvey, Massey's assistant general counsel. "We do not have a firm estimate at this time. My guess is it would be below $10 million."
The agreement settled a complaint filed by the EPA in May 2007 alleging that the company violated the federal Clean Water Act on at least 4,500 occasions between January 2000 and the end of 2006 by discharging mining waste and sediment - including hazardous metals - into hundreds of streams and waterways and failing to control spills of coal slurry during its mining operation.
Some of the waste water discharges were more than 10 times the amounts allowed by state permits, the EPA said.
Massey officials announced the agreement Thursday, noting that it would allow the company to avoid costly litigation and resolve questions about its liability for the damage. "We believe this agreement will benefit the environment as well as our shareholders," said Baxter F. Phillips Jr., the company's executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
The maximum penalties facing the company for the thousands of violations and days when permits were exceeded could have been as high as $2.4 billion, according to the EPA.
The pollution "destroyed streams, destroyed fish habitat. There was definitely an environmental impact here," Granta Nakayama, the assistant EPA administrator for enforcement, said in an interview. "We thought it was very serious."
The $20 million civil penalty is the largest ever for discharge permit violations under the Clean Water Act, said Nakayama. "This is a landmark settlement for the environment, and raises the bar for the mining industry."
As part of the agreement, Massey promises to develop and implement new procedures and tracking systems to prevent waste water discharges and slurry spills, and allow third-party audits of its pollution prevention program. The company also agrees to set aside 200 acres of riverfront land in West Virginia for conservation and protection against future mining.
Ronald Tenpas, head of the Justice Department's environment and natural resources division, said the measures agreed to by the coal company "represent a significant step forward in the way that mining facilities currently address Clean Water Act compliance."
The new pollution prevention measures are expected to keep an estimated 380 million pounds of sediment and other pollutants from Massey's mining operation out of the three states' waters each year.
The settlement concludes an EPA investigation of more than two years of Massey's mining operation. The complaint filed last May alleged that Massey routinely released metals, sediment and acid mine drainage into streams and rivers at amounts 40 percent or more than allowed by state permits.
And investigators found that Massey's operations failed to control spills of coal slurry, containing sediment and metals, allowing it to clog streams and harm fish habitat.
Massey, which reported $89 million in profits on revenues of nearly $1.7 billion for the first nine months of 2007, is the largest coal producer in the Appalachia region, operating 19 mining complexes - 33 underground and 11 surface mines as well as processing facilities - in southern Virginia, southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.
The company has been embroiled in a string of legal and environmental disputes from complaints about its hilltop mining practices and pollution of waterways to mine safety and high-profile contract disputes.
Currently its president and chairman, Don Blankenship, is at the center of conflict of interest allegations involving the chief justice of West Virginia's supreme court. Photographs surfaced with Blankenship and the justice, Elliott Maynard, socializing together on the Mediterranean last summer - four months before the court in a 3-2 decision with Maynard in the majority reversed a $76.3 million judgment against Massey in a dispute brought by a bankrupt coal company. Other problems facing Massey include a $219.8 million jury verdict awarded to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. in a contract dispute and a record $1.5 million in fines by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for safety violations involving the deaths of two miners in a January 2006 mine fire. The fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County, W.Va., also is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
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When I worked for PG&E we got hit with environmental fines like that and larger all the time. That is nothing to a company that size and simply gets passed on to the ratepayers (you and me).
We owned the 2 dirtiest (and largest non nuke) plants on the east coast. We once got a 100 million dollar plus repair order for pollution retrofits. We told them f' you, we are closing the plant. They immediately backed off and no retrofit ever happened.0 -
My GF came from down on the Ohio River and everything down there is just filthy from all the coal plants. Every morning there is a coating of fine black soot all over the cars. My vote goes for more nuke plants, but the environmental freaks won't let that ever happen. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by ladams
My GF came from down on the Ohio River and everything down there is just filthy from all the coal plants. Every morning there is a coating of fine black soot all over the cars. My vote goes for more nuke plants, but the environmental freaks won't let that ever happen.
I live close to the largest coal burning power plant in the world; Gavin (AEP). Keyger Creek is expanding a mile up the road, it is a huge plant too. Even on the worst days you can't smell the plants as you drive by. Coal seems to be getting with the program and getting cleaner and cleaner.0 -
Gee, I wonder who's gonna pay for it. 0 -
I read somewhere, if we built 20 more nuclear powereplants, we would never have to build another plant. I think the problem with that is we need one good design instead of 20 different plants built 20 different ways. Nuclear power is good. 0 -
The spill that they are getting fined for happened back in 2000.
Check out this guys story about the spill.
Good friend of mine and lives within a mile of my Dad.
He once trained National Mine Health and Safety inspectors. Now he fights coal companies tooth and nail.
http://www.ohvec.org/newsletters/woc_2003_12/article_11.html
Jack Spadaro's site.
http://www.jackspadaro.com/index.html
He won a huge cash settlement with NMHSA after they fired him.
Bad news about EPA and MSHA fines to coal companies. All a company has to do is tell them where to go and it's swept under the rug.
A $20 million fine. That's laughable. Offer to settle for $10 grand grease a palm or two and it's back to business as usual.0 -
quote:Originally posted by SuburbanNoize
I read somewhere, if we built 20 more nuclear powereplants, we would never have to build another plant. I think the problem with that is we need one good design instead of 20 different plants built 20 different ways. Nuclear power is good.
+1 to that. If we wanted more energy independence we would stop using fuel oil and coal to make power, and start using nuclear.0 -
Yup.
Doug0 -
Sure, but then the cost of your household uranium would go through the roof!! 0 -
i was just wondering how maney here have worked in a coal mine..myself i have never even seen one.man thats got to be spooky down there in the mines[?][?][?] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by needmyguns
i was just wondering how maney here have worked in a coal mine..myself i have never even seen one.man thats got to be spooky down there in the mines[?][?][?]
Although their are still many "underground" coal mines, most new ones are "surface" mines.They just remove the hilltop/Overburden,and scrape off the layer of coal...[V]0 -
I agree with LesWVA. 20 million is nothing.
I also believe that nuclear power is the way to go in the future.
I hope I live to experience the benefits of it.0 -
We're getting a new coal fired energy plant where I live. Apparently they will be pumping all of the smoke from the stack into "deep underground geologic formations".
Ben0 -
i wonder how much it would have cost them if they disposed of it properly?
lets see 50 million to dispose of it or a 20 million dollar fine, that's a no brainer0 -
quote:Originally posted by fishermanben
We're getting a new coal fired energy plant where I live. Apparently they will be pumping all of the smoke from the stack into "deep underground geologic formations".
Sounds like a great idea [xx(]0 -
I worked for over 20 years in the env.enforcement business. I have met Jack Spadaro on several occasions. I know that none of you people know me but this guy is a LOOSE CANNON. Coal can be mined safely, surface ming can be done responibly, and coal can be burned cleanly. A lot of people have to do their jobs correctly for this to happen. this is not a perfect industry, but people like Spadaro, DO NOT MAKE THINGS BETTER. Spadaro never did anything for the enviornment, or for the safety of the miners. His whole career has been based on making a name for himself. If this gets "Poofed" SO BE IT [:(!][B)][:(] 0 -
WWG55
You stated "Coal can be mined safely, surface ming can be done responibly, and coal can be burned cleanly."
I agree with you 100% on that.
But it will never happen. When such people as Don Blankenship running companies such as Massey are allowed to get away with what they do and nothing ever done about it.
Here you have West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard who helped overturn a 76.3 million-dollar judgment against Massey being seen and photographed with Blankenship on vacation in Monaco. Then making statements like,
"... I want to be crystal clear that in the noted trip I paid my own way, paid for my travel expenses, paid my own hotel expenses out of my own pocket. I have receipts and records to prove it."
Only raises more questions with me. Such as sure you paid for it out of your own pocket. But Who put the money that you used in your pocket?
They need to be one law and one law only for such fines.
If a company is fined X amount.
That company will not produce nor sale one single ton of coal until that fine is paid in full.
As long as companies such as Massey are free to grease the palms of government officials such as Elliott "Spike" Maynard then have it ignored. You will continue to see spill and deaths from unsafe mining practices. Not just here in WV but all over the US.
Jack being a loose cannon.
Funny.0 -
Part of my job is to see that there are no heavy metals(zinc,lead,chromates) released to the envirement. It costs us a lot to monitor and reduce to allowable limits. Since all this ends up in our drinking water I think it money well spent. Big buisnesses that knowingly pollute should have the CEOs jailed instead of just passing on the fines to the consumer.
People forget what things were like in the 60s before we had an EPA. The sky over Gary indiana was red with pollution. Some rivers actually caught fire. Yes the EPA can do some stupid stuff, but we are better off with it than without it.0 -
I'm surprised: no shrieks about liberal, tree-hugging hippies making things so god-awful tough for business in America![:0]
What happened to all of the global-warming-is-a-fraud, pollution-is-the-price-of-a-healthy-economy, environmentalism-is-for-losers, the-EPA-will-kill-us-all talk? Y'all been drinking out of Diane Feinstein's glass again?0 -
I have seen Massey and others pull some slick stuff, that being said you can go to the KY DSMRE web page and see the real after pictrues of the cleanup of the Martin County Spill. I think those pictures will speak for theselves as to the work done by the State of KY DMRE Inspectors, and the coal company. The rank and file coal miners as well as State and Federal officials are good hard working people. The fines imposed by the judges do nothing for the cleanup and prtection of the Water, so they really are not as important is the resolution of the problem itself. As for Jack, I met him over 20 years ago and my opinion of him hasn't changed. let any third party here in the forum go look at Jack's website and I think they will agree that "Jack is more about Jack than anything else". 0
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