Dunkard Creek Lawsuit Reaches a Settlement

Morgantown Dominion Post
4 August 2015
By David Beard


MORGANTOWN -- The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has reached a tentative agreement with Murray Energy in the 2011 lawsuit filed in connection with the 2009 Dunkard Creek fish kill.

“We’ve reached a tentative settlement but will not announce the details of the settlement until an agreement has been signed,” Fish and Boat Commission spokesman Eric Levis said Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent also verified the tentative agreement, noting that the company inherited the suit from CONSOL Energy when it bought CONSOL’s five area mines.

“The settlement in this case is not yet final,” Broadbent said, “and therefore, we are unable to comment on it, except to say that the circumstances that lead to the loss of aquatic life in Dunkard Creek in 2009 was caused by a naturally occurring golden algae bloom. While this bloom was unfortunate, Dunkard Creek is recovering naturally, at a very rapid rate, and aquatic life is now thriving. Murray Energy Corp. was not involved in the events or circumstances in this case in any way, as it assumed the defense of this action after its acquisition of Consolidation Coal Company in December, 2013.”