Mine ponds ruled illegal – Judge deals second blow to coal industry by United States District Court
– By Ken Ward Jr.

Richmond, VA – Coal operators cannot evade the Clean Water Act by building sediment-treatment ponds just downstream from strip mine valley fills, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers essentially outlawed the common coal industry practice of turning small stream segments downstream from fills into waste treatment systems.

In a 26-page decision, Chambers concluded that the Clean Water Act protects parts of streams where mine operators traditionally build sediment-control ponds. The judge also said the law protects small segments of streams between those ponds and the bottom of valley fills.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chambers declared, “has no authority under the Clean Water Act to permit the discharge of pollutants into these stream segments.”

Wednesday’s ruling is the second time in three months that Chambers has dealt a major blow to the coal industry with a ruling to more strictly regulate mountaintop removal mining.

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Originally published in the Charleston Gazette in Charleston, WV. Click here to read the entire article.