Alpha agrees to reduce pollution in West Virginia streams affected by mountaintop removal

Alpha Natural Resources on Monday reached an agreement with citizen groups to "take steps to reduce water pollution so that the streams involved either meet a more detailed test of aquatic life health than currently used by state regulators or comply with a water quality measure of electrical conductivity designed by federal regulators," Ken Ward reports for the Charleston Gazette. In June a federal judge ruled that mountaintop removal from Alpha mines was having an adverse impact on nearby streams.

"The settlement, which must be reviewed and approved by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers before it can take effect, gives Alpha until August 2019 to clean up pollution of Laurel Creek in Boone County and Robinson Fork in Nicholas County," Ward writes. (Read more)