Mining company sues state over longwall rules

Mining company sues state over longwall rules

A mining company sued state environmental regulators, claiming that the business was singled out for unequal regulatory enforcement that cost 500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Department of Environmental Protection allowed similar mining operations elsewhere in the state, but unfairly forced the closure of the High Quality Mine in Washington County, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Philadelphia by Murray Energy Corp. of Pepper Pike, Ohio.

The federal lawsuit lists about a dozen plaintiffs, which are sister companies of Murray Energy, including UMCO Energy Inc.

UMCO Energy closed the Fallowfield Township mine and a coal-preparation plant in February 2005 after the state said it was concerned about what effect longwall mining was having on a creek.

Longwall mining is used to extract coal in wide swaths from hundreds of feet below ground. Hydraulic roof supports hold up the earth as machines carve out coal. When the supports are removed, the ground behind the machinery subsides. That subsidence, sometimes as much as several feet at the surface, can alter the course of surface water.

The lawsuit accuses the department of conspiring to shut down Murray’s mining operations.

The defendants ”acted cruelly, willfully, in bad faith and in conscious disregard for [Murray Energy’s] rights with the intent to vex, harass, annoy and cause injury and unjust hardship” the suit said.

The DEP denied the allegations.

”Maple Creek needs to stop the blame game, hire capable management and finally accept responsibility for the company’s permitting and operational decisions,” said DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty.

”There are many things that the Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for, but geological conditions are the handiwork of an even higher authority,” she said.

McGinty disputed the number of jobs affected, citing about 320 hourly workers, and accused UMCO Energy of issuing ”self serving inaccuracies” in its February closure announcement.

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