Washington County Coal Company Pleads Guilty to Charge of Polluting
Stream
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
31 October 2009
By Mary Pickels
A Washington County coal company Friday submitted a guilty plea to one
misdemeanor count each of pollution and unlawful conduct before Fayette
County Judge Steve Leskinen.
Purco Coal Inc. of 22 Van Voorhis Lane, Monongahela, also paid a
$40,000 fine yesterday. The fine will be evenly split between the Solid
Waste Abatement Fund and the Pennsylvania Clean Water Fund.
The company was charged through the state attorney general's
environmental crimes section. In an affidavit of probable cause,
Special Agent Richard M. Bosco accused the company of burying two pipes
to drain acid mine water from Watkiss Mine onto state game lands and
into Jonathan Run in Stewart Township.
The untreated mine water was allowed to flow into the creek, which is a
tributary of the Youghiogheny River, from spring 1989 until March 2008,
according to court records. Jonathan Run was described by the DEP as an
"exceptional value" trout stream.
Purco also was required to make a $10,000 charitable contribution to an
environmental group to be determined by the office of the Attorney
General.
Finally, Purco was ordered to comply with the Department of
Environmental Protection's consent order to address acid mine drainage
and pay $37,845 restitution to the department, to be applied to the
state's Growing Greener Program. The program had previously paid
advocacy group Trout Unlimited to design a mine water treatment system
to alleviate the problem.
Nils Fredericksen, spokesman for the attorney general's office,
yesterday confirmed that the pleas were entered and the fines have been
paid.
Mary Pickels can be reached via e-mail or at 724-836-5401.