The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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September 2, 2010

Patriot ordered to clean up selenium in W.Va.

By The Associated Press Associated Press

CHARLESTON — Patriot Coal Corp. must install equipment to clean up selenium pollution at two southern West Virginia mines over the next 2 1/2 years, and a federal judge says he’ll appoint someone to make sure the work gets done.

U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers issued a contempt order Tuesday against Patriot subsidiary Apogee Coal and said he will appoint a special master to oversee his directions for the Ruffer and Hobet 21 mines.

Lawyers for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy had sued Patriot over repeated violations of the Clean Water Act. To resolve the case, Patriot had until April 2010 to comply with pollution limits.

Earlier this month, Patriot said it needed more time. Environmentalists accused Patriot of stalling and demanded the company be held in contempt for missing the deadline.

President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Whiting said Patriot was particularly disappointed in the contempt ruling because it has been at the forefront of developing a solution to a complex issue facing the industry.

The equipment the judge wants Apogee to install at Ruffer — a fluidized bed reactor, or FBR — remains unproven, he said.

“While Patriot believes that FBR has promise,” Whiting said, “it is important to understand that this technology has never before been used in commercial applications for the removal of selenium in any context, including coal mining.”

The installation will cost Patriot $50 million, Whiting said, plus an additional $3 million a year to operate.

The Hobet mine must submit a separate treatment plan by Oct. 1 and be in compliance with discharge limits by May 1, 2013, Whiting said.

Under the judge’s ruling, St. Louis-based Patriot must also post a $45 million letter of credit.

Selenium is a naturally occurring element that mountaintop removal mining releases into waterways.

Studies have found it’s toxic to aquatic life. In humans, high-level exposure can damage the kidneys, liver, and central nervous and circulatory systems.

The coal industry has successfully lobbied West Virginia legislators to delay imposing new limits on selenium discharges, but the U.S. Environmental Protection agency has begun to object and is considering even tougher standards.

Margaret Janes, senior policy analyst for the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, said Chambers’ ruling signals to both the industry and the state Department of Environmental Protection that selenium should be treated.

Whiting, however, said coal companies in central Appalachia face a more stringent standard for aquatic life than those set for drinking water in some major cities. The Safe Drinking Water Act standard of 50 parts per billion for selenium is 10 times higher than the 5 parts per billion being applied to West Virginia under the Clean Water Act, he said.

Patriot will decide whether to appeal once it reviews the judge’s written ruling.

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