Feds Settle Water Pollution Claims With Dem Candidate's Firm

The U.S. EPA has reached a deal with a coal company owned by a Democratic gubernatorial candidate over alleged water pollution violations.

“The Obama administration settled years of outstanding fines with West Virginia's leading Democratic candidate for governor, billionaire Jim Justice, whose coal business has avoided payment for years,” The Washington Examiner reported.

Justice, the candidate, owns Southern Coal Corporation and its affiliates, according to The Hill. The parties “have agreed to pay a $900,000 civil penalty, implement new compliance measures worth about $5 million and establish a $4.5 million letter of credit and a standby trust to guarantee funding for Clean Water Act compliance,” The Hill reported, citing the EPA.

“Justice is an outspoken advocate for coal, bucking the Democratic Party’s general goal of reducing the use of fossil fuels. He announced last month that he wouldn’t support Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton because of her opposition to coal, saying her coal position is ‘diametrically, completely wrong in many, many different ways,’” The Hill reported.

The company allegedly broke the law by discharging pollutants at its mining and processing facilities, according to a statement from the EPA. The actions allegedly violated state-issued Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The government had also claimed that the company did not uphold its responsibility to sample the quality of discharges into rivers and streams. The allegedly offending facilities were in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

EPA official Cynthia Giles said in a statement: “Discharging pollution from coal mining into waterways is a serious threat to clean water, and that’s why EPA stepped in on behalf of communities across Appalachia. Company-wide compliance programs like the one Southern Coal Corporation will establish are critical to protecting our lakes, rivers and streams and the people who depend on them.”

Here’s what the company will need to do under the terms of the settlement, per the EPA statement:

• Implement a company-wide, EPA-approved environmental management system;

• Maintain a centralized data management system to track audit results, violations, water sampling data and compliance efforts;

• Construct a public website for posting documents such as NPDES permits, discharge monitoring reports, water sampling data, effluent violation information, notices of violations and compliance orders;

• Conduct regular internal and independent third-party environmental audits and outlet inspections and undertaking necessary alterations or maintenance measures;

• Provide training for all employees whose responsibilities include environmental compliance and contractors hired to perform duties required by the consent decree;

• Pay a civil penalty of $900,000;

• Pay escalating stipulated penalties if Clean Water Act permit violations continue to occur.