1343 Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. v. DEP; EHB doc. no. 94-014-MR

ENVIRONMENTAL
HEARING BOARD

Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. v. DEP; EHB Doc. No. 94-014-MR

[26 Pa.B. 3962]

   The parties have agreed to a settlement, the major provisions of which include:

   Within 30 days of approval by the Board of this Adjudication, LCN shall submit to the Department a plan to control groundwater levels within SMP No. 54733020(T) and to prevent further unauthorized discharges from the Panther Valley Mine. The Panther Valley Mine is located in Tamaqua and Coaldale Boroughs, Schuylkill County, and in Nesquehoning, Lansfield and Summit Hill Boroughs, Carbon County. LCN shall respond to any request by the Department for corrections to the plan or for further information within 15 days of the date of that request. The plan as approved by the Department shall be inserted by special condition into the pending renewal of SMP No. 54733020(T). LCN waives any rights to appeal said special condition which may be available. LCN shall implement the approved plan within 15 days of Department approval. LCN shall pay a total civil penalty of $50,000 to the Department for every day the Route 309 discharge has discharged from August 4, 1992 through the approval by the Board of this adjudication. Within 30 days of approval by the Board of this Adjudication, LCN shall enter into a reclamation in lieu of civil penalty agreement with the Department. The cost of the proposed reclamation project is approximately $50,000. If there is a remaining balance of the $50,000 civil penalty it shall be paid to the Department upon completion of the reclamation project. The Department will not assess additional civil penalties against LCN for the Route 309 drift discharge beyond the $50,000 penalty during LCN's implementation of the approved plan providing that the pollutional loading from and the flow of the Route 309 drift discharge does not increase significantly over pre-implementation conditions during the plan implementation period.

   Copies of the full agreement are in the hands of:

   Dennis A. Whitaker, Esquire, Assistant Counsel, DEP, 400 Market Street, Ninth Floor, P. O. Box 8464, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8464, [phone];

   G. Bryan Salzman, Esquire, Salzman & DePaulis, P.C., 2933 North Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110, [phone];

   and at the office of the Environmental Hearing Board and may be reviewed by any interested party on request during normal business hours.

   Persons who are aggrieved by the above settlement have a right to appeal to the Environmental Hearing Board, 400 Market Street, Second Floor, P. O. Box 8457, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8457.

   Appeals must be filed within 20 days of this publication.

   If information concerning this notice is required in an alternative form, contact the Secretary to the Board at [phone]. TDD users may telephone the Board through the AT&T Pennsylvania Relay Center at 1 [phone].

   The Environmental Hearing Board is empowered to approve this settlement if no objection is timely made.

GEORGE J. MILLER   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-1343. Filed for public inspection Auigust 16, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]