FOLA COAL REACHES DEAL OVER WATER POLLUTION - Company Threatened To Lay-Off Hundreds Clay-Nicholas

(12/01/2011)

Two environmental groups have settled a lawsuit with Fola Coal Co. over runoff from a mountaintop removal mining operation in Clay and Nicholas counties. When the water violation first happened, the company threatened to lay-off several hundred miners at the operation. The agreement filed Wednesday in Charleston must be reviewed by U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver. The Sierra Club and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy sued the company in October 2010, claiming violations of the federal Clean Water Act at Surface Mine No. 3 in Clay and Nicholas counties. Under the agreement, Fola agrees to pay $200,000 to the West Virginia Land Trust and a $25,000 fine to the federal government. It agrees to repair any damage caused to the Boardtree Branch waterway, but it does not have to admit liability. The remediation work involves construction of wetlands to help remove sulfates from mining runoff. An independent authority will monitor the progress. See related story   FOLA COAL WILL LAY-OFF 157

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001