By Bob Niedbala

August 11, 2018 - More than 50 people attended a state Department of Environmental Protection hearing Thursday on a revised water discharge permit for Pennsylvania's Cumberland Mine, speaking both for and against proposed effluent limits for certain contaminants the mine discharges into the Monongahela River.

Cumberland Contura LLC applied for a revision to the mine’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to address a reduction in the amount of discharge water coming from the mine and to adjust effluent limits for sulfate and total dissolved solids, contaminants that are dissolved in water and include sulfate.

Revisions to effluent limits were requested based on the fact the Mon is no longer considered impaired for sulfates and on additional data available for the river on sulfates, TDS and other pollutants, DEP said.

The mine now has seasonal limits on TDS and sulfate, achieving compliance by storing water in the mine during dry months when it may not be able to meet current effluent limits. The mine is seeking year-round effluent limits for the two contaminates.

Most of those attending the hearing in the Greensboro Fire Hall were company employees, and three of the mine’s union workers spoke about any permitting issue that would impact the mine and its jobs. Several others spoke against the draft revisions, including two members of the Center for Coalfield Justice, which with the Sierra Club had requested the public hearing.

Tony Brnusak, president of the United Mine Workers Local 2300, said he was concerned about the mine closing if the permit revision is not granted. This would affect the jobs of 586 UMW workers and 126 management employees, he said.

Greene County is considered to have a depressed economy. “If you take these jobs out of the equation, you can forget about it,” he said.

Brnusak said he grew up along the river and remembers when the river was orange and so dirty you couldn’t swim in it. The river is much cleaner today and even supports trout, which requires very clean water, he said.

Brnusak, who works on the river at the mine docks in Alicia, said he also sees other pollution coming downstream that should be investigated, including a creek near the docks that looks like it’s “pure sulfur” and a brown foam that comes downstream in the middle of the night.

Sarah Martik of the Center for Coalfield Justice, who also grew up in a Mon river town, said she is concerned about the river’s condition. “I want you to know the stigma around this river. That it’s exceptionally dirty, that it’s unsafe, that you can’t trust it even when officials at, say, the DEP, report that it's fine.”

Martik said effluent levels set by DEP in the revised permit are “illegal and unreasonable.” She noted concentration levels in the discharge will take up to 78 percent of the river’s assimilated capacity for TDS and 84 percent for sulfates. Assimilated capacity refers to the amount of a contaminant that can be added to the river water without the water reaching a level harmful to human or aquatic life.

Martik also said her group believes the revision is unnecessary, citing a DEP permit document indicating the mine is in compliance with current effluent limits, even without the use of the advanced water treatment plant the company constructed at the mine which is not in operation.

Management employees at the hearing referred questions to the corporate office, which later issued a statement saying: “We will continue to work with the Department of Environmental Protection toward the permit’s approval with the dual focus of protecting coal mining jobs in Greene County and ensuring continued environmental quality for the Mon River.”

DEP had determined the new effluent limits for sulfate and TDS after conducting a study taking into consideration data regarding the conditions of the river water, said Troy Williams, DEP environmental group manager, following the hearing.

To establish the revised effluent limits, DEP assessed the river to determine the assimilated capacity of the water in regard to sulfate, TDS and other pollutants, he said. “The limits we set are protective of aquatic and human health,” Williams said.

According to DEP, the mine has decreased the average monthly flow of the discharge into the Mon from 9.2 million gallons a day to 6.88 million gallons a day. The new limit set for sulfate is 288,000 pounds per day at a 30-day average or 576,000 pounds daily maximum. The limit for TDS is 494,000 pounds a day at 30-day average or 988,000 pounds daily maximum.

A DEP permit summary indicated effluent limits for sulfate and TDS are being increased; however, it says less stringent limits are permissible because of the decrease in the discharge flow from the mine and more recent information on the conditions of the river, including it being considered no longer impaired for sulfate.

DEP also has the authority to adjust the effluent limits in the permit should there be changes in the condition of the Mon, DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said.

The proposed permit revision may change and will not be finalized until a review is completed of information obtained during the public comment permit. Public comments must be submitted by Aug. 19. Written comment can be sent to DEP’s California District Mining Office, California Technology Park, 25 Technology Drive, Coal Center, Pa., 15423.