Ryerson park dam still shifting
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The state has withdrawn its order requiring Consol Energy to repair the damaged Ryerson Station State Park Dam and refill and restore Duke Lake because land around the Greene County dam continues to shift and move.
According to a Department of Environmental Protection letter to Consol, the recently discovered earth movement around the cracked and unstable park dam precludes repairs at this time.
As a result, the DEP said it was pulling its November order, which would have required Consol to fix the dam and the lake, "in order to properly evaluate and understand this new significant development."
The cost of those repairs to the dam, lake and park have been estimated at $58 million.
Consol said the continued earth movements mean that its longwall mine, operating in the area in 2005 but not now, didn't cause the damage to the dam.
But an environmental organization that has intervened in a state DEP lawsuit against the mining company for damaging the dam said the ongoing ground movement didn't negate the company's responsibility for damaging the dam in 2005.
Consol conducted longwall mining at its Bailey Mine near the dam from December 2004 through 2006. By summer 2005, the 515-foot concrete structure was damaged and its integrity in jeopardy. The state was forced to breach the dam and drain Duke Lake.
Jerry Richey, Consol executive vice president for corporate affairs and chief legal officer, said in a statement that the continuing earth movement lets the company off the hook.
"We believe that the DEP's recent determination that the Ryerson park dam site is still moving supports our position in this case from the beginning: The damage to the Ryerson park dam was not subsidence related," Mr. Richey said.
Cracks were discovered in the dam in April 2005, when Consol was operating 1,850 feet away from the dam and 350 feet below the surface. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources drained the 62-acre lake for safety reasons in July 2005. At the time the lake was drained, Consol's mining machines were operating 1,000 feet away and moving toward the dam.
In January 2008, the DCNR, which manages the state's parks and investigated the cracks in the dam, filed a civil lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging the company lied about the risks of mining under the state park and caused the damage.
First Published April 19, 2011 12:00 am
