Permit Required Discharge to Pollutants

In conjunction with deep mining operations, Valley Camp Coal Company owned a refuse pile (“gob pile”) and built a sedimentary pond at its base. Water in the pond collected drainage from the pile before it entered Storch's Run, a body of water. Valley Camp had obtained a non‐transferable pollution control permit from the state allowing treated effluent from the gob pile to be discharged into a creek into which Storch's Run flowed. Subsequently Rayle Coal Company acquired the property from Valley Camp that included the gob pile. Immediately after acquiring the property, Rayle altered the method of collecting and treating the drainage. It utilized a series of settling ponds and ditches in the stream bed of Storch's Run. Rayle did not apply for a discharge permit although ordered to do so by the state. The state concluded that although Rayle's method reduced the amount of acid mine drainage, it did not eliminate such drainage into Storch's Run and the creek. In time, the state upheld the requirement that Rayle apply for the permit.