Lexington Coal Company's Doubly Delinquent $3 Million In Fines

Apr 9, 2025

On May 17, 2024, Lexington Coal Company signed a payment agreement with WV Dept. of Environmental Protection to settle the $2,997,067.50 in delinquent penalties they owed the people of West Virginia for hundreds of violations across their coal mining operations. On June 15, 2024, LCC made the initial payment of $299,705.75 in accordance with the agreement. On Sept. 17, 2024, WVDEP and LCC entered into an amended payment agreement that included newer delinquent penalties, for a total of $3,182,510.00. Monthly payments of $144,659.55 were to have been made on the first of each month for the remaining 22 months until the debt was paid in full. WVDEP confirms that LCC only made the initial payment. We are now 11 months after the initial agreement and more than three years past the original violations. When asked about WVDEP's plans to collect this debt and the additional delinquent penalties that have since been assessed, WVDEP states "The alternative enforcement process is ongoing, and we will not provide further comment at this time." About $2 million worth of these fines have resulted from CRMW's birddogging WVDEP and complaining to the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement about WVDEP's practice of allowing violations to go unabated for months or years beyond the legal limit. Suddenly, WVDEP started assessing the required fines, and then they provided a memo to inspectors and supervisors reminding them of correct procedures.

But none of that matters much if LCC won't pay their fines that were delinquent and now doubly delinquent. So far, WVDEP has suspended some of LCC's "reclamation only" permits, issued stacks of cessation orders, and held "Show Cause" hearings with no effect on LCC's trend of violations or payment of penalties. "Alternative enforcement" needs to include permit revocation, bond forfeiture, and denial of permit renewals. Otherwise, it's just more finger-wagging.