Politician-Owned Coal Company Found Not Guilty Of Contamination

A local jury in West Virginia has ruled that a coal company owned by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice did not contaminate the drinking water wells of residents, according to The Washington Times.

However, the plaintiffs’ attorneys say the jury could have been influenced by the presence of coal employees throughout the trial.

The three-woman, three-man jury began deliberations earlier this month after hearing legal instructions and closing statements, according to The Charleston Gazette-Mail.

The statements completed a trial that went on for more than three weeks, a water pollution case against Justice-controlled companies Dynamic Energy Inc. and Mechel Bluestone Inc.

Fifteen families were seeking “out-of-pocket costs” and damages associated with the contamination, as well as asking the jury to conclude that the mining companies damaged their wells. The families had said in a lawsuit that the operation contaminated their wells between 2006 and 2007 to the point that the water was no longer safe to drink.

“It’s not illegal to mine coal,” the residents’ lead lawyer, Kevin Thompson, said to jurors during his closing argument last week, reported The Charleston Gazette-Mail. “What is illegal is not to try to protect [the water], to ignore your permit.”

The contamination finding would have allowed residents to seek a separate court order from Wyoming Circuit Judge Warren R. McGraw to force the companies to provide long-term treatment to clean up the drinking water.

State and federal laws require mine operators to replace water supplies that become contaminated, diminished, or damaged by mining. The laws set up a mandate for emergency water supplies, and then temporary supplies, prior to a requirement for long-term replacement.

James M. Brown, a lawyer for the companies, celebrated the jury’s decision, adding that a testimony from an inspector for the state department of environmental protection had been important. The inspector testified that the agency had determined the mining wasn’t the cause of any damage to the wells.

“Fortunately, the facts meant more to this jury of Wyoming County residents than distortions and absurd attempts to allege that mining harmed these water wells,” said Tom Lusk, Justice’s chief operating officer for coal, in a statement. “Thankfully, this frivolous lawsuit did not end in more harm to our good West Virginia coal miners and their families.”

Kevin Thompson, an attorney for the residents, said his side has been given 10 days to file a written motion, according to The Washington Times.

“We are concerned about undue influence on the jury,” David Barney Jr., an attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Register-Herald. “Trying a case in coal country is one thing, but we are concerned some things occurred that made the jury feel they had no other option but to render the verdict they did,” he said.

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