US Sues Son of West Virginia Gov. Justice Over Mining Violations

The Justice Department filed a civil action against James Justice III, the son of the sitting governor of West Virginia, and 13 coal companies he owns or operates for unpaid civil penalties levied by the Interior Department.

Justice and his companies have engaged in more than 130 federal violations from 2018 to 2022, leading to threats to the environment and the public, US Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia said in a statement Wednesday.

After having been given notice, the defendants didn’t fix the violations and were told more than 50 times to stop mining until they had done so, Kavanaugh said.

The companies haven’t paid fees into the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) fund, a tax on coal producers that pays for cleaning up old, abandoned mines, the Justice Department said.

Including interest, penalties, and unpaid funds, the defendants owe $7.6 million, according to the Justice Department.

The suit “seeks to deliver accountability for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe” as a result of the violations, Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement.

The office of Gov. Jim Justice (R) couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. An attorney for Bluestone Coal Corp., one of the defendants, also couldn’t immediately be reached.

Some of the violations include failing to maintain the face of a dam, failing to ensure a dam’s seismic stability, allowing surface water flows to erode haul roads, failing to maintain sediment control measures and sediment ponds, and unlawful discharges outside a mine’s permit area.

“The Justice companies have a long history of not paying money that they owe, whether that’s for violations they’ve committed or taxes they owe to local or state governments or AML fees,” said Erin Savage, senior program manager for environmental group Appalachian Voices, which has filed lawsuits against coal companies.

Failing to pay AML fees “gives them an unfair advantage,” Savage said. “They can use that money to pursue more mining, and it’s not going to cleaning up communities.”

The infrastructure bill poured $11.3 billion into the AML fund, but the total cost of abandoned mine land remediation is widely estimated to range between $20 to $25 billion.

The case is United States of America v. A&G Coal Corp. et al, W.D. Va., No. 7:23-cv-00318-RSB, 5/30/23