Console Energy settles, parties ‘agree to disagree’

After months, company ends litigation with activist groups

After several months of litigation, Consol Energy recently entered into a settlement with environmental groups that disputed Consol’s attempts to mine beneath streambeds in Kent Run State Park.

According to Zach Smith, manager of external affairs at Consol, the Department of Environmental Protection granted a permit to Consol for longwall mining at the end of last year.

Longwall mining involves removing large sections of rock, which can cause the ground to cave in—potentially damaging streams.

Therefore, after the permit was issued certain environmental activist groups—the Center for Coalfield Justice and the Sierra Club—filed to temporarily supersede it—so Consol could not mine at Kent Run in Graysville, Greene County. Not only that, said Smith, but the groups also challenged the issuance of the permit in the first place.

“This is certainly a complex issue, and it definitely goes back a couple of years,” said Smith.

Veronica Coptis, director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said her group has been in a legal battle with Consol since January of last year, at least.

For several months now, the parties have been in the discovery phase, asking each other questions and gathering information throughout deliberation of the settlement.

This presents a lot of difficulty for the environmental groups, going against a commercialized industry that is determined to maintain production.

“Legal litigation is a slow-moving process, and the mining is happening faster than the litigation,” said Coptis.

But, after months of discovery and debate, Smith said the parties simply “agreed to disagree.”

“It was just…” said Smith. “We didn’t need to go any further. It was time and money wasted on an issue that, for the most part, has been resolved.”

Indeed, Consol Energy agreed not to engage in longwall mining beneath Kent Run. Instead, the company will continue with development mining, which Smith described as simply preparing the mine in advance of longwall.

Coptis said the settlement was a significant win for the environmental groups, as Consol had to acknowledge they no longer had permission to longwall mine in the area, and they would have to give public notice if they applied for the same permit again.

CCJ also maintained the right to make an identical claim against Consol, if they should apply for the same permit.

“We will have to keep blocking,” said Coptis. “What we hope is that the DEP will follow the existing law.”

Smith said that while the settlement stopped disruption of mining now, it does not represent a permanent resolution.

“I don’t think these settlements, per say, represent a solution,” Smith said. “I think they will continue. CCJ and Sierra Club—their stated goal is to keep the mining industry in check, and when opportunities present themselves, they are going to continue these legal challenges.”

For Smith, these legal battles are more of an annoyance, he said. He is more worried about the miners themselves.

“Me sitting up here, we understand that various interests come into play,” said Smith. “But our miners—the guys working—their pretty frustrated because we have a permit to mine. They just want to come in and do their jobs safely and efficiently.

Addressing this, Coptis said that layoffs and economic concerns resulting from blocking the mines are always at the forefront for CCJ.

“Things that we take very seriously is that the economy is in a tough state,” she said. “What do we need to do to protect the future of our economy? We are open to listening and we want to hear and we actually want to work toward [a solution]. We want to hear from those folks that are affected by this.”