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Coal Company Fined $50,000 And Put On Two Years Probation for Polluting Western Pennsylvania Creek

Release Date: 12/20/1999
Contact Information: Donna Heron (215) 814-5113

Donna Heron (215) 814-5113

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Action Mining Co., of Meyersdale, Pa., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, Pa. for knowingly discharging acid mine drainage into a creek in Western Pennsylvania.

The company had pleaded guilty oct. 6 to a criminal violation of the Clean Water Act by discharging acid mine drainage into Coal run, a tributary of the Casselman River, on three occasions: Dec. 1, 1994; June 30, 1995; and Feb. 7, 1996.

The court fined the company $50,000 and sentenced the company to two years probation.

The company had previously agreed to a civil settlement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection related to the acid mining discharges in western Pennsylvania. The settlement requires Action Mining to pay $650,000 in penalties, including $400,000 for a water treatment system for Coal Run.

The sentencing judge stated that the fine imposed takes into account the company’s financial situation, as well as the penalty provided in the settlement with PaDEP.