Consol Sets Plan for W.Va. Water Treatment Plant

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
13 July 2011

Consol Energy Inc., a Cecil-based coal and natural gas producer, said Tuesday that Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies will design, build and operate a $200 million mine water treatment system near Mannington, W.Va.

Construction of the zero liquid waste discharge system is to begin this month and be finished by May 2013. Consol said Veolia will treat mine drainage from Consol's Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge and Robinson Run mining operations. Consol agreed to build the plant and pay a $5.5 million fine for federal Clean Water Act violations at six mines in West Virginia.

The agreement was made after algae killed aquatic life in 2009 along Dunkard Creek in Greene County. Consol temporarily stopped discharging into the creek, and said it determined later its operations didn't cause the algae bloom.