ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
The state sued a coal processing plant Thursday, saying it polluted the Powell River and three tributaries in Lee County and killed thousands of fish.
During a rainstorm in October, a crack developed in a settling pond where Lone Mountain Processing Inc. stored coal dust and other waste, including small amounts of iron and manganese.
Six tons of water and sediment gushed out, initially at the rate of 10,000 gallons per minute. The black mud flowed through an abandoned underground mine, picking up more coal deposits, and entered Gin Creek.
The coal slurry flowed into two other creeks and the North Fork of the Powell River, a popular fishing area in the coalfields.
``This was a devastating spill,'' Attorney General Jim Gilmore said in a statement. ``It turned Lee County's waterways black with coal dust and killed fish and wildlife for miles.''
Gilmore filed the lawsuit on behalf of the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the State Water Control Board.
The lawsuit alleges that Lone Mountain Processing violated pollution discharge permits and killed 11,240 fish, suffocated as the coal slurry stuck to their gills.
The lawsuit does not specify how much money the state wants Lone Mountain Processing to pay because the state has not established how many violations can be proven, Gilmore said. The maximum civil penalty for each violation of a state water permit is $25,000.
The mines department already has fined Lone Mountain $15,000 for three separate violations of the Coal Surface Mining Act.
The October accident was the worst case of coal slurry pollution since the state began regulating mines 15 years ago, according to DMME spokesman Mike Abbott.
The company, owned by Arch Mineral Corp. of St.Louis, was disciplined eight times in the past year for similar infractions. The same pond broke Aug. 9 and caused a less serious spill, according to the lawsuit.
The company blamed the October accident in part on old mining maps that showed a coal seam - where the crack developed - to be 100 feet thick when it was actually 10 feet thick.
The state let Lone Mountain reopen the processing plant and use the pond after the company built an earthen berm around the pond and adopted new safety measures.
The company also built a second sediment pond at the headwaters of Gin Creek and agreed to restock the waterways with fish and to monitor the environmental consequences for several years.
Arch Mineral spokesman Blair Gardner said the company was able to recover only a small amount of the coal slurry because most of it dissipated in the waterways.
``Since October 24, Lone Mountain has worked to correct the harm resulting from the discharge,'' Gardner said. "We are disappointed that our good faith has been questioned in this suit. We had hoped to resolve this matter without litigation.''
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB