LUMBERPORT — Consolidation Coal Co. is seeking approval from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to significantly expand a coal slurry impoundment near the Robinson Run Mine.
Under the proposal, the company would broaden the impoundment by 103 acres and increase its height by 70 feet in order to create additional capacity for refuse generated from the coal washing process.
“It’s a substantial expansion in not only area but also height,” said Randy Moore, permit supervisor for the DEP’s regional office in Philippi.
Ohio-based Murray Energy acquired the Robinson Run Mine — renamed the Harrison County Mine — when it purchased Consolidation Coal Co. in 2013.
Moore said the company is seeking an incidental boundary revision for an existing permit at the facility to allow for the expansion. Estimates are that the expansion would lengthen the life of the impoundment by another 11-12 years at current mining conditions, according to Moore.
“There’s always a need to expand if the mine keeps in production, and they’ll either have to expand this one or build a completely new one somewhere,” Moore said.
To increase the capacity of the impoundment, the company would have to fill in from the creek below the current embankment used to contain the slurry, according to Moore.
“They’ll have to start lower in the stream and build up from where they are so they have a foundation to go higher,” Moore said. “It’s called a downstream expansion. You start in the lower section on solid ground and then build compacted layers up so all your stability requirements are met.”
The expanded impoundment would be built from a combination of dirt and course refuse separated during the mining process, Moore said. A sedimentation control pond would be constructed at the base of the embankment to prevent discharge into the streams.
The DEP held an informal hearing on the proposal Tuesday after residents near the impoundment requested to meet with officials.
Gary Stout said he attended Tuesday’s meeting. Stout said he lives on Nolan’s Run Road, not far from the slurry pond.
Stout said increasing the height of the impoundment by 70 feet worries him, knowing what could happen if the embankment ever gave way.
“You can see the dam from my house here. There are people all through here that are really concerned about it,” Stout said. “If something would happen that would break loose, you’d have school buses, everything, that could get flooded out, and it would kill people.”
John Levelle, who also lives on Nolan’s Run near the impoundment, said he came away from Tuesday’s informal hearing feeling uneasy about the proposal.
Levelle, a retired contractor, said he’s concerned about the company’s plans to use refuse as part of the material to build up the embankment. He also referenced the fatal 2012 accident at the same slurry pond, which claimed the life of a bulldozer operator.
The worker was killed when his machine was swept into the slurry after an embankment collapsed. Consolidation Coal Co. was cited by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration for three violations in connection with that incident.
“Failure’s already on everyone’s mind, and they want to expand it another 70 feet?” Levelle asked. “If that thing fails, it’ll wipe out all of Nolan’s Run.”
But Levelle made it clear that he supports the Robinson Run Mine and doesn’t want to see it shut down. He just said he’d like to get a little more reassurance from officials that everything will be done properly.
For his part, Moore said the state has learned a lot since the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster in Logan County, when a slurry dam collapsed, claiming the lives of 125 people and injuring 1,200 more.
“The Buffalo Creek disaster certainly precipitated many, many laws that are in effect today that require these structures to be designed and inspected carefully,” Moore said. “They’re continually monitored to make sure that nothing of that nature ever happens again.”
DEP spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater said the agency anticipates making a final decision on whether to approve Consolidation Coal’s incidental boundary revision within the next month. She said the project has already gone through a 51-day public comment period that concluded March 7.
The public was notified through four legal advertisements published in the classified section of The Exponent Telegram.
In addition to posting the information online, the DEP sent out electronic notification of Tuesday’s informal hearing, Gillenwater said. Only those who had signed up through the DEP’s website received the notification, she added.
When asked if enough was done to make the public aware of the proposed expansion to the impoundment, Gillenwater said, “Whatever’s under code as far as requirements go, we followed the requirements and actually went beyond that by having the informal conference.
“I think about 50 people showed up, so people were aware of it.”
The Exponent Telegram reached out to Murray Energy for comment for this report. A Murray spokesman wrote via email that the company would be unable to respond to questions by the close of business Wednesday.
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