Bankrupt mining company continues to amass violations in 2025
By Willie Dodson, Appalachian Voices
On April 11th, the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA) submitted its latest complaint against South Fork Coal Company to federal regulators. ABRA, alongside West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Appalachian Voices, and other organizations, has been calling for regulators to shut down the company’s coal hauling activity in the Monongahela National Forest, which utilizes a portion of Forest Service Road 249 – activities that are prohibited under federal law – since last summer. This latest complaint explains that the company is also using Forest Service Road 223 to bring equipment in and out of the Rocky Run Surface Mine – an impact on the Monongahela National Forest that is not sanctioned under federal law or relevant permits.
The Rocky Run Surface Mine covers more than 1,100 acres in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The sprawling strip mine is situated just outside the boundary of the Monongahela National Forest, just a few miles from the popular Falls of Hills Creek trail, and about 6 miles from the Cranberry Wilderness.
After years of chronic noncompliance at multiple coal mines, haul roads, and a coal processing facility/ waste impoundment, South Fork Coal Company declared bankruptcy on February 8th.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has cited South Fork Coal Company nine times so far in 2025 for an array of environmental violations. The company has become infamous in recent years for repeatedly discharging pollution into the otherwise pristine Cherry River, part of the Gauley River watershed, and for its impacts to the Monongahela National Forest. On April 1st, Appalachian Voices reported on SFCC having released “sludge” into tributaries of the Cherry River.
An accounting of the DEP’s enforcement actions against South Fork Coal Company for the first few months of 2025 is below.
| Mine name/ permit number | Date | Nature of violation | Status of violation as of Apr. 29th |
| Lost Flats #2 (S303393) | 3-24-25 | Caused “iron staining and sludge deposits” in Cherry River tributaries | Ongoing. Clean up deadline of May 7th |
| (S013878) | 3-24-25 | Caused “iron staining and sludge deposits” in Cherry River tributaries | Ongoing. Clean up deadline of May 7th |
| Laurel Creek Contour #1 (S301016) | 2-10-25 | Stopped conducting any reclamation activity | Ongoing. Deadline to resume reclamation has been extended 3 times. Current deadline is May 11th. |
| Laurel Creek Contour #1 (S301016) | 4-17-25 | Failed to maintain sediment control | Ongoing. Compliance deadline is May 1st. |
| Blue Knob Surface Mine (S300511) | 1-9-25 | DEP ordered cessation of mining due to ongoing excessive erosion first noted in October 2024. | Ongoing. Last compliance deadline on DEP website was February 8th. |
| Blue Knob Surface Mine (S300511) | 1-9-25 | DEP ordered cessation of mining due to failures to control drainage off of mine first noted in October 2024. | Ongoing. Last compliance deadline on DEP website was February 8th. |
| Pretty Ridge Surface Mine (S300219) | 1-9-25 | DEP ordered cessation of mining due to ongoing excessive erosion first noted in October 2024. | Ongoing. Last compliance deadline on DEP website was February 8th. |
| Clearco Loadout (O301311) | 2-16-25 | Released black water into Clear Creek, a tributary of Meadow River, | Resolved. Company added treatment preventing continued release of black water on February 18th. |
| Clearco Loadout (O301311) | 2-20-25 | Failed to add sufficient kiln dust material to coal waste area. (kiln dust is used to stabilize coal waste and to mitigate acidic discharge into nearby waters) | Ongoing. Deadline has been extended four times. Current compliance deadline is May 1st. |