Groups say Justice’s Tennessee mines pollute water

The Charleston Gazette (WV)
Friday, June 20, 2014
Groups say Justice’s Tennessee mines pollute water
By Dylan Lovan The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two environmental groups say a West Virginia billionaire’s Tennessee coal mines are violating federal law by not monitoring water pollution.

The groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in East Tennessee this week against S&H Mining, saying an underground mine in Campbell County is discharging pollutants into forks of the New River. Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment, based in Knoxville, and the Sierra Club filed the lawsuit on Thursday.

The groups also filed a notice they intend to file an additional lawsuit against S&H and two other Tennessee coal companies owned by billionaire Jim Justice, alleging the companies’ mines are violating the Clean Water Act by not filing water pollution reports...

....The groups say the mines are releasing more iron, manganese and suspended solids into the waterways than what their permit allows. The Justice-owned companies, S&H along with National Coal and Premium Coal, have not filed the required water pollution reports since the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the group’s court filings. The reports are required as part of the Clean Water Act.

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