The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is accepting public comments on a proposed permit for treated wastewater discharge for a new coal mine planned for the Laurel Highlands in western Pennsylvania.
The Rustic Ridge II coal mine would develop metallurgical coal, used to make steel.
The DEP issued a draft water pollution permit, which allows the mine’s owner, LCT Energy, to treat minewater and discharge it into two tributaries of Jacobs Creek, a stocked trout stream in Westmoreland County.
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Stacey Magda of Mountain Watershed Association said even though the wastewater would be treated, it could still carry pollutants like iron, manganese and aluminum. Plus some streams would be filled in to build the mine.
“They would need to bury or permanently destroy over 1,700 feet of headwaters of Jacobs Creek and they would also need to fill in just over a half an acre of wetland,” she said.
Magda says she is worried that the minewater would also be warmer than the receiving streams, which are designated as coldwater fisheries by the state.
“There’s major change to the ecosystem in that headwaters: the character, the look of the stream itself, and of course, how it functions for the value of aquatic life that lives there,” Magda said.
LCT Energy did not immediately respond to questions about the permit.
According to the company’s draft permit, the mine would install settling ponds to lower the acidity of the minewater and keep pollutants under state-mandated thresholds.
LCT currently operates Rustic Ridge #1 coal mine, located a few miles away in Donegal, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Rustic Ridge II is a 2,300-acre underground mine. As in the #1 mine, LCT says it will conduct “room-and-pillar” mining, in which pillars of coal are left in place to provide support to the ground above to prevent subsidence.
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The company has admitted this method didn’t prevent subsidence in some parts of the Rustic Ridge #1, which it recently received permission to expand.
Several homes within the mining area had structural damage consistent with underground subsidence.
LCT ultimately purchased several homes above the #1 mine from the owners.
The metallurgical coal LCT would mine is used to make steel in traditional blast furnace operations, like U.S. Steel’s facilities in the Mon Valley near Pittsburgh.
The DEP is accepting public comment on the draft permit until June 30. Those wishing to can send comments to: Lori Jenkins, California District Office, District Mining Operations, 25 Technology Drive, Coal Center, PA 15423 or by email: lo********@**.gov or can call (724) 769-1100.
