It is reported that the Ohio Valley Coal Company has spent more than USD 6 million to build a new pipeline and will pay more than USD 1 million in fines for two coal slurry spills that blackened an eastern Ohio stream in 2008 and 2010.

The company also would plead guilty to two counts of negligent violation of its state issued water pollution permit and be placed on probation for a year. The company and federal prosecutors filed the plea agreement last week with the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

If approved by a federal judge, the guilty pleas and fines would bring an end to two widely publicized incidents in which coal slurry, a waste water created by washing coal, fouled Captina Creek in Belmont County.

The 2008 incident blackened the stream all the way to the Ohio River. The 2010 spill was caused by a ruptured slurry pipeline.

The new pipeline, according to court documents, is double-walled to help prevent future spills.

Murray Energy, Ohio Valley parent company would not comment. The company's headquarters are in Pepper Pike near Cleveland.

Source - Dispatch

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