Permit for New Hill Mine Delayed

Sierra Club files appeal with DEP

Morgantown Dominion Post
23 September 2010
By David Beard

Although Patriot Mining Co.’s permit application to expand its New Hill surface mine, near Cassville, has reached its last milestone, the story isn’t over.

Sierra Club has filed with the state Environmental Quality Board to appeal the mine’s water discharge permit — the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

And the surface mine permit itself has not been issued yet, a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) official said.

The surface mining application seeks to expand the New Hill mine by 225 acres. The state DEP milestone chart for the application shows that all the milestones have been achieved and the permit was printed Sept. 2.

But DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said the agency wants some additional information and Patriot cannot disturb the land covered by the permit.

Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter spokesman Jim Kotcon said the NPDES permit lacks limits for potential pollutants — heavy metals and other toxins contained in mine runoff and fly ash. The appeal seeks to have the permit rescinded or modified to include limits.

Patriot applies fly ash — a coal combustion byproduct trucked in from the Morgantown Energy Associates power plant — to mined areas to prevent acid mine drainage.

Sierra Club said fly ash contains potential pollutants — arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium and others — that could leach into a tributary of Scotts Run, Scotts Run itself and then into the Monongahela River.

New information from the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency indicates fly ash may be more dangerous than originally believed, he said, but the DEP did not include toxin limits in the permit.

“West Virginia DEP is still using outdated testing procedures to evaluate the toxicity of coal ash,” Kotcon said in a release.

The club wants the Environmental Quality Board — a division of the DEP — to require the DEP to comply with NPDES permitting requirements and set limits for pollutants.

The DEP previously said it has adequate data for its decisions, the EPA had no issues with the surface mining permit, and Patriot will be required to perform regular testing of surface and groundwater locations.

An evidentiary hearing is set for Nov. 18. Board spokeswoman Jackie Shultz said the appeal process could take months, depending on a number of variables.

Patriot’s attorney in the appeal said he was just familiarizing himself with the case and couldn’t comment on it. Patriot did not respond to requests for comment.