The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has announced changes to its Ten-Day Notice rule poised to make it easier for citizens to report concerns with coal mining operations. Environmental advocates hailed the rule update.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and West Virginia environmental groups have reached a proposed settlement over regulator oversight of the Lower Guyandotte River watershed. The agreement resolves a lawsuit the groups filed against the EPA last month contending the EPA has not calculated maximum pollution amounts in the Lower Guyandotte River watershed that would allow the watershed to meet water quality standards through total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has fined the Pocahontas County Public Service District roughly $1.8 million over permit violations. The DEP cited water pollution control permit violations going back over a decade.
New appointments to the West Virginia Special Reclamation Fund Advisory Council included a member recommended by environmental groups to represent them after concern about removal of the previous member statutorily required to represent them on the board. Gov. Jim Justice appointed West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club chairman Jim Kotcon to serve on the board.
Concerns dominated a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection hearing on a proposed air quality permit for a planned ammonia production site in Mingo County. TransGas Development Systems LLC plans to build up to six 6,000-metric-tons-per-day ammonia-making plants near Wharncliffe, a project it has called the Adams Fork facility.