Environmental group opposes Rustic Ridge Mine permit renewal

A Fayette-based environmental organization is opposing a coal mine company’s request to renew its permit for the Rustic Ridge No. 1 Mine in the Donegal area.

The Mountain Watershed Association, which monitors the environmental impact of Rustic Ridge No. 1 Mine, prefers “that the mine is not permitted” for renewal, said Stacey Magda, community organizer for the Melcroft-based organization. If the state renews the mining permit, the association wants to mitigate issues such as mine subsidence, damaged water supplies and dust spread by coal-hauling trucks, Magda said. Mountain Watershed had reached a settlement in 2018 with Rustic Ridge on issues regarding its operations.

The Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled an informal public conference in a virtual setting from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 26 for LCT Energy LP’s request for a five-year renewal of its coal mining, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and air quality permits for another five years. The permits are considered “administratively extended” until the department makes a decision on renewing them, said Lauren Fraley, a DEP spokeswoman in Pittsburgh.

State officials will explain the permit review process, make maps available and answer questions from the public, Fraley said.

The public hearing, by contrast, is a formal, structured proceeding for the public to provide testimony to DEP on an action under review, but there is not any back-and-forth exchange with the DEP, Fraley said. DEP does not respond in real time during a hearing, but instead formulates a detailed response that is provided to those testifying once the review of the application, Fraley said. The department will comunicate with those commenting, its decision once either the informal public conference or hearing is finished, Fraley said.

The original five-year permit was issued in December 2016, so the company is seeking a renewal for another five years, said Mark Tercek, president of LCT Energy, a subsidiary of Robindale Energy & Associated Cos. of Latrobe.

LCT Energy’s permit allows it to mine about 2,880 acres in parts of Donegal Township in Westmoreland County and Saltlick Township in Fayette. The mine, which has about 100 employees, produces metallurgical coal used in the production of steel. Monthly production from the Rustic Ridge mine is approximately 38,000-to-40,000 clean tons of coal, Tercek said.

The company removes the coal through a process known as room-and-pillar mining, which Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences describes as leaving pillars of coal to support the roof of “rooms” where coal is removed.

Mountain Watershed Association said three of five properties that have been impacted by mine subsidence sustained cracks in the walls and foundation and doors and windows that no longer close. Other homes have had their water supplies damaged in an area that relies on private water supplies such as springs and wells, Magda said. Homeowners are in “sensitive” negotiations with LCT Energy to try to resolve the problems, she said.

“It’s causing serious issues,” Magda said. “We’re living it every day.”

The environmental group has complained the coal dust that falls from the trucks traveling along County Line Road blackens the road, as well as snow lining the roadway, Magda said. The organization monitors the quality of the water in Champion Creek, an Indian Creek tributary that flows into the Youghiogheny River, Magda said, but has not found there is a serious impact on the creek from any runoff or discharge, Magda said.

The coal is trucked from the mine to LCT Energy’s coal washing facility in Central City, Somerset County, where it is transported by a Norfolk Southern Corp. train to domestic steel facilities, as well as sites for exporting the product, Tercek said.

LCT expansion

Environmental regulators are reviewing a separate permit, Fraley said, for LCT Energy to add about 1,410 acres to its mining operation, according to the LCT Energy application for a permit.

The proposed expansion would take mining underneath the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the Donegal area, Donegal Borough and north toward Donegal Lake. The area has sufficient coal reserves for 19 years of mining, at a rate of 600,000 tons of coal annually, according to the application.

The DEP has received a request for an informal public conference on the proposed expansion and will hold a separate event in the near future, she added.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will not be involved in the informal public conference but has been notified of the proposed expansion, said Rosanne Placey, a turnpike commission spokeswoman.

LCT Energy has a lease agreement with the turnpike commission that includes stringent requirements with significant standards for safety and stability regarding its underground mining, Placey said. The lease also physically limits the amount of extraction that can occur to mitigate concerns about possible subsidence along the toll road, Placey said.

Pre-mining surveys of the turnpike structures are performed, Placey said.

If subsidence were to occur, any liability and related compensation for damages would rest with Robindale Energy Cos., as stated in its lease, Placey said.