THE FIGHT FOR RYERSON’S STREAMS

After the 2013 settlement, a new battle began to protect Ryerson’s remaining water features, the streams Polen Run and Kent Run. The settlement allowed Consol to continue mining under the park, and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved permits to mine beneath the streams in 2014 and 2015. The environmental nonprofits Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ) and the Sierra Club appealed the permits to the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), warning that the mining could dry up the streams.

The case centered on whether mining should be allowed if a company knows it will severely damage a stream. Consol and DEP argued that mining should be allowed as long as the company promises to restore the streams later. The nonprofits disagreed, saying that methods like plastic liners and concrete grouting permanently damaged the streams instead of truly restoring them.

In late 2016, the EHB ordered Consol to stop mining before reaching Kent Run while the appeals continued. The ruling came too late to save part of Polen Run, which had already been undermined. Consol appealed the order, and 200 miners protested outside CCJ’s office after temporary layoffs raised fears about job losses. In 2017, Pennsylvania passed Act 32, a law making it easier for coal companies to get permits to mine beneath streams if they promised to repair the damage later.

On August 15, 2017, the EHB ruled that under the Clean Streams Law, it is illegal to permit mining that is predicted to destroy a natural stream so badly that it has to be rebuilt from scratch. Mining could still continue where the expected damage was less severe. By 2018, the groups reached an agreement protecting Kent Run, though Consol was later allowed to finish mining under the last section of Polen Run. Today, the Center for Coalfield Justice continues monitoring the streams at Ryerson.