Lone Mountain Processing has been fined US$1.6 million after pleading guilty in U.S. federal court for twice discharging water contaminated with waste from coal processing into Virginia waterways.
The company mines and processes coal near Big Stone Gap, Va. In September and October of 1996, a total of 2.6 million gallons of wastewater from the coal washing process leaked from the company’s 6-acre slurry pond over two different occasions.
The second spill released water contaminated with iron and manganese at the rate of 3,000 gallons per minute over nine days, polluting 50 miles of streams. The spill killed 11,000 fish and threatened the habitats of nine species of endangered mussels.
A portion of the fine, US$1.5 million, will be used to upgrade and expand wastewater treatment and sewage facilities in the area. The remainder of the penalty was levied as a criminal fine.
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