Conservationists declare intent to sue Aurevo Resources for illegally releasing mining pollution into the Cherry River
Mining imperils pristine trout streams and endangered candy darter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2026
CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org
Jordan Howes, Communications Specialist, (304) 282-8448, jordan.howes@wvhighlands.org
Today, a coalition of conservation groups sent a notice of intent to sue letter to Aurevo Resources and its officers for releasing pollutants including sediment and metals from seven surface mines into the South Fork Cherry River and its tributaries without permits required under the Clean Water Act, and for 54 violations of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act dealing with failures to reclaim the seven mines according to legal requirements.
The mines were formerly operated by South Fork Coal Company, which went bankrupt and idled its operations last year. In May, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection granted Aurevo “advanced approval” to take over the operations over the objections of environmental groups. The violations named in the notice of intent letter were initially issued to South Fork Coal, but Aurevo became responsible for all regulatory compliance when it took over ownership and control of the mines.
Aurevo Resources Inc. and its sister company Clearco Processing, which assumed the remainder of South Fork Coal’s former operations, are new companies that were incorporated late last year by James Woods Jr.
Woods pled guilty to federal fraud charges in 2021, admitting to having leased a dozer on behalf of a company he did not own, and having it delivered to a job site. The companies are owned by Bernard Brown, who is also listed as the entities’ vice president in a federal regulatory database. No president or other officers are listed for the companies in that database, and the company filings state that they have no employees.
The Clearco/Aurevo mining complex covers about 3,600 acres in the headwaters of the South Fork of Cherry River, including a haul road operation that illegally crosses the Monongahela National Forest and utilizes Forest Service Road 249. The conservation groups sent a similar notice letter to Clearco last week for illegally operating within the national forest.
On June 10, the companies entered into Reclamation Transition Agreements with the DEP. These agreements establish deadlines for Clearco and Aurevo to correct the ongoing violations and come into full compliance with the Clean Water Act and surface mining regulations. The conservation groups’ action seeks to ensure that these problems are swiftly corrected and that DEP does not allow them to languish for years as it did when South Fork operated the complex.
“The South Fork Cherry River was once pristine, and it still has a fighting chance,” said Olivia Miller, Interim Executive Director of West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. “So many of West Virginia’s waterways have been utterly destroyed by mining. This does not have to be the Cherry River’s future. DEP should have taken over South Fork Coal Company’s mines and reclaimed them directly when South Fork went belly up. But instead, they’ve bent over backward to hand over the keys to convicted fraudster James Woods Jr. and his partner Bernard Brown. If these men don’t clean up the mess they’ve inherited quickly and properly, they will have to deal with us in court.”
“Rocky Run used to regularly produce 12-inch brook trout,” said Micah Bates, an Appalachian Voices member from neighboring Fayette County who regularly fishes in the Cherry River watershed. “Since the mining started, it’s changed entirely. The trout are smaller and fewer in number. The tributaries and the South Fork of Cherry are more frequently muddy. It’s sad. Aurevo needs to do a lot better than South Fork Coal Company ever did if this watershed is going to recover.”
“Mining continues to have significant impacts to the environment in West Virginia, in particular our water and forests,” said Bill Price, Chair of the West Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club. “One of our most valuable resources deserves protection instead of destruction.”
Aurevo has 60 days from today’s filing of the notice of intent letter to address the violations. If the company fails to do so, then the conservation groups will have the right under federal law to file a suit seeking to force compliance with the Clean Water Act and surface mining regulations.
