Originally published Monday Nov. 16, 2015 by Environment & Energy Daily. Contact E&E for permission to republish.
A Wyoming-based conservation group is moving to block state regulators from allowing bankrupt coal company Alpha Natural Resources Inc. to continue operations at its Eagle Butte mine, one of the largest in the country.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council asked the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for an informal conference to discuss concerns about the state’s plan to issue the permit. Regulators turned it down.
Now the group is asking the state’s Environmental Quality Council (EQC) — an independent regulatory body appointed by the governor — to intervene.
The move is evidence of environmentalists continuing to push their concerns about coal mine bonding amid tough times for the industry. Companies must post financial assurances to guarantee mine cleanups.
Because of Alpha’s precarious situation, in September DEQ put off asking Alpha for more bonding in exchange for putting the state ahead in line among Alpha’s creditors for $61 million (Greenwire, Sept. 9).
Attorney and organizer Shannon Anderson says the state may be violating federal and state law in denying the conference and moving to issue the Eagle Butte permit. In a filing Thursday, Anderson asked the EQC to help rectify the situation.
“We also respectfully ask the EQC to issue a temporary order preventing the DEQ from approving the permit renewal until such time as the informal conference is held and an order is issued therefrom,” she wrote.
The Resource Council’s filing accused state regulators of crafting the financial assurance agreement in secret with Alpha, potentially violating the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
“Bankruptcy does not exempt Alpha from compliance, nor does it afford DEQ the flexibility to waive enforcement of these non-discretionary duties via a contract with the company,” said the group.
The state has been fighting any attempt by groups to attack the deal, saying it protects jobs by ensuring mining continues. Getting new financial assurances would have further strained Alpha.
On Friday, DEQ asked the Environmental Quality Council to scrap any proceedings stemming from the Resource Council’s Thursday filing. The agency said proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia prevent the state from debating the deal.
“The [bankruptcy court] stay is not limited in its preclusive effect to the State of Wyoming and the DEQ, and the failure to abide by the order of the bankruptcy court could subject the Powder River Basin Resource Council or any other initiating individual or entity, including DEQ, to civil contempt proceedings,” wrote aides for Wyoming’s attorney general.
Last month, the Sierra Club sent DEQ a citizens complaint, accusing regulators of allowing Alpha to conduct strip-mining operations without enough bonding. The group threatened to take its concerns to the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (Greenwire, Oct. 30).
Twitter: @ManuelQ Email: [email protected]
— Flickr Creative Commons photo by Aaron Hockley.
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Our state doesn’t care about its people. If it did, that haze in the background of this picture, would have never been an issue. Yet! Our state continues to believe this haze is non-existent, or at least having nothing to do with humans, yet as I drive this state in my work I can hardly breathe in some places, my eyes burn dang near constantly, BUT! All is right with the world. Our state leaders have their fat wallets and we, the people, have fat Dr bills and rising rates of asthma. Go figure. Come on Mead! And all the rest of you! Quit being selfish and stupid! Being Christian doesn’t preclude ya from being educated? Does it? Even our fed level leaders are out for strictly money, in their wallets. I have been to DC and heard the bad reps our people have, for money they’ll sell Wyoming down the proverbial river, and have. Good luck paddling upstream, against the current, with holey paddles. The holes are made of your lies and deceptions.
Nadine Girouard
To be clear, the Powder River Basin Resource is objecting to the renewal of the Eagle Butte permit until the company comes into compliance with applicable bonding regulations. We are not trying to stop the existing permit nor are we trying to prevent the mine from operating. We continue to believe there are creative and novel ways to bring the company into compliance, something we’d like to discuss with DEQ, but they are unwilling to come to the table. Just wanted to clarify that as the first paragraph of the story is misleading about our intentions.
Shannon Anderson