Donegal area mine expansion challenged; opponent says it will harm environment

An environmental group wants the state to revoke a mining company’s permit to bore underneath the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Donegal to access some 1,425 acres of coal, claiming that expanded operations would harm the water and land.

The Mountain Watershed Association of Melcroft stated in its June 27 appeal to the Environmental Hearing Board that the state Department of Environmental Protection violated its duties to protect the environment when it granted a permit on April 4 to LCT Energy LP of Johnstown to expand its Rustic Ridge Mine No. 1. LCT currently mines about 2,840 acres of coal underneath portions of Saltlick Township in Fayette County and Donegal Township in Westmoreland County.

“We believe that this expansion poses a threat to clean water, local wildlife and community health in the Laurel Highlands, which attracts millions of visitors annually for its natural beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities,” said Colleen O’Neil, a Mountain Watershed spokeswoman..

Jamar Thrasher, a spokesman for the DEP in Harrisburg, could not be reached for comment.

Mark Tercek, president of LCT Energy, could not be reached for comment.

Christine Walker, board secretary, could not be reached for comment. Environmental Hearing Board decisions are appealable to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

The company had submitted its application to expand the mine in October 2021, according to the DEP. Tercek said in April the additional acreage of coal would extend the life of the mine by about six to eight years. The company expected to start work on the additional coal acreage this fall.

The association claims in its 21-page appeal that DEP approval of the revised permit was defective because it did not make a reasonable attempt to reduce the environmental impact to a minimum and permitted mining that likely would or was predicted to damage public natural resources.

Regulators also failed to ensure that the mine subsidence control plan accurately reflects the plan for the operations, Mountain Watershed said in the appeal. There already has been mine subsidence above its Rustic Ridge operations and the DEP permit allows for mining under 14 acres where these is no subsidence control plan, the association stated.

The mining operations underneath the headwaters of Fourmile Run will divert groundwater from the tributaries that feed the upper elevations it, and will continue even after the mine closes, according to the appeal.

It’s also more than likely that there will be acid mine drainage from the expanded operations, either when it is active or after it closes, Mountain Watershed said in its appeal

DEP should not have issued the permit because LCT Energy does not have the complete control of all the mineral rights in the 1,425 acres and a map shows six areas where it has no legal right the coal, according to the appeal.