W.Va. DEP halts Massey coal silo work while state reviews permit

W.Va. DEP halts Massey coal silo work while state reviews permit

Washington (Platts)--19Jul2005

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection expects a decision by the
end of this week on whether a coal-storage silo under construction in Raleigh
County meets permit requirements. In the meantime, all activity at the site
related to the suspended permit has been stopped. 

The decision hinges on whether the maps used by Massey Energy subsidiary Goals
Coal of Naoma, W.Va., in requesting the permit for a second coal-storage silo
are accurate and match those approved by DEP. DEP relies on maps submitted by
the applicant for its review process, and in a governor-encouraged technical
review, DEP found inaccuracies in the boundaries, said Jessica Greenhouse, DEP
spokeswoman. The governor had met with citizens groups complaining about the
proximity of the silo to an elementary school. State law requires at least 300
feet between a coal silo and an elementary school. 

DEP sent a hand-delivered administrative order Friday to Goals Coal suspending
all work on the coal-storage silo, the second on the company's property near
the Marsh Fork Elementary School. 

An independent surveyor was at the Goals Coal property Friday and again
Monday, said Greenhouse. He will send his report to DEP, which will compare
the current maps with those dating back to 1982.  

The agency is "hoping to move swiftly" on the situation, she said. If Goals
Coal loses its permit, the state could force the company to reclaim any work
done on the second silo, including removing the already-poured foundation and
reclamation of the site, Greenhouse told Platts Coal Trader. The foundation
for the silo was started before the permit was issued, but that is common
practice. Right now, it appears that the silo is less than 300 feet from the
school, she said. 

The controversy started after DEP issued the June 30 permit. Citizens groups
were incensed over the action and appealed to Gov. Joe Manchin (PCT 7/5). He
asked DEP to review its permit.  

"The boundaries of this permit depicted on the proposal and drainage map for
this revision are clearly inaccurate in an area that may be subject to the
prohibitions" in state law, wrote Director Randy Huffman of the Division of
Mining and Reclamation in the July 15 administrative order. Comparing the
boundaries in the western end of the prep plant site to boundaries on previous
maps show that "boundaries depicted on the revision 8 map have been extended,
without the approval of this agency." 

Neither Massey nor the governor's office responded to requests for comment.
Earlier, a Massey spokeswoman said the second silo would hold 10,000 tons of
coal, as the first one does. The company is not expanding its production but
wants more flexibility for blending and storage. 

This story was originally published in Platts Coal Trader
http://www.coaltrader.platts.com

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