W.Va (WOAY) – In southern West Virginia, coal mines with repeated environmental violations are racking up fines with limited repercussions from the very agencies designed to protect the Mountain State. WOAY reviewed documents from just two of them, in Raleigh and Wyoming counties, as examples of a much larger problem.
In 2017, Lexington Coal Company took over dozens of permits from Alpha Metallurgical Resources on the Raleigh-Boone county line. According to Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch, many of the violations now on Lexington’s record were already present when Alpha held the permits.
“DEP allowing that deal was ill-advised,” Haltom said.
Haltom believes that the WVDEP allowing that deal may have been shielding Alpha Metallurgical Resources from future violations.
Since then, Lexington has built up over $3 million in fines but paid less than $300,000. Only one payment has been made in the past year, under a formal agreement with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Despite this, Lexington continues mining.
Recent violations include illegal land clearing, sediment damage, and oil spills. In January, a worker died at one of the sites.
“They’re going to say it’s an act of God… but you can comply with safety regulations to maybe prevent some of those,” Haltom said.
In an email, the WVDEP stated the “alternative enforcement process is ongoing,” but Haltom argues that very process is failing the public.
“The fact that they’re allowed to stack violation on top of violation and fine upon fine with no real enforcement is a betrayal of the trust that citizens have,” he said.
The DEP’s inaction isn’t isolated. WOAY reviewed documents from Consol’s Itmann No. 5 Deep Mine in Wyoming County, showing their repeated failure to submit required discharge monitoring reports, and when reports are submitted, they often show contaminant levels above legal limits.
This is the same mine that just sent out notices for over 200 employees to be “idled” due to “weaker than expected market conditions and economic forces impacting the industry and the mine,” as reported by WOAY.
WOAY submitted the following questions to the DEP on June 2nd:
-
Lexington Coal Company has nearly $3 million in fines due to violations of all sorts, yet they have only made one payment in the past year. Can you please provide clarification on why the WVDEP has not taken more severe action? Why has the WVDEP not forced an operations halt until corrective actions have been taken?
-
With violations stacking up and payments not being made, why should the residents of affected areas trust the WVDEP to protect them?
- As I understand, the Itmann No. 5 Deep Mine in Wyoming County has not submitted all required discharge monitoring reports, yet the ones that are submitted show discharges exceeding the permitted limits. How can the WVDEP allow this? What actions is the department taking to ensure that discharge limits are met?
- In an email you wrote, “The alternative enforcement process is ongoing.” What does that process look like? Specifically, what is the DEP doing in that process?
After being present for recent split sample testing, it became apparent that the cooler the WVDEP was using lacked ice or ice packs, which experts claim is a red flag. Seeking a proper understanding, I asked about that situation as well:
- Due to the lack of ice in the WVDEP’s cooler, can we still expect trustworthy results? If so, why do outside experts confirm the importance of temperature when testing water for contaminants?
- Can the residents in these areas trust that the water in their area is safe and meeting all permitting requirements, even with the recent testing and violations coming to light?
Despite multiple follow-ups, after two weeks, no response has been received.
Newswatch also reached out to Lexington Coal, which declined to comment, as well as Consol, owner of the Itmann mine, which has not yet responded.
For residents downstream, the violations are not just paperwork; they are lived consequences. With contaminated water, illness, and growing distrust, the call isn’t to end mining. It’s to mine safely, for those above and below ground.
For the full EPA ECHO report on the Itmann No. 5 Deep Mine in Wyoming County, click here.
