DEP Orders Coal Prep Plants to Disclose Chemicals

An April order by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection requires the state’s approximately 90 coal preparation plants to disclose the chemicals used to process coal. The DEP order follows a series of coal-related spills in early 2014 and the discovery that many potentially hazardous products used to process coal were previously not required to be disclosed. DEP spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater claims any cost imposed on companies by the new reporting requirements are insignificant compared to the potential liabilities a company could face for polluting West Virginia’s waters.