West Virginia Board Given Broad Leeway in Mine Drainage Dispute

West Virginia’s Environmental Quality Board was within its discretion when deciding to reduce the amount of acid mine drainage that an electric utility could pump into an abandoned underground mine, the state’s supreme court said.

Subsidiaries of mining company American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc. challenged the permit the state’s Department of Environmental Protection gave in 2020 to utility American Bituminous Power Partners LP. The mining company units alleged that they would have to pump the drainage out of nearby mines that they operate and treat it at their own expense.

After EQB changed the permit and reduced the amount of ...