By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Another federal judge has ruled that Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies owe millions after environmental violations.
Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski ruled Tuesday that Southern Coal Corp. and two dozen other companies must pay $2.54 million in penalties and clean up sites as required by Tennessee environmental regulators.
A filing by the U.S. Department of Justice and the states of Alabama and Tennessee in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia alleged in March that the companies failed to comply with a 2016 consent agreement under which they pledged to address environmental violations.
The consent decree required Southern Coal Corp. and two-dozen other companies to pay a $900,000 civil penalty to resolve more than 23,000 water pollution violations.
Urbanski ruled Tuesday that the companies violated the consent decree by failing to maintain water pollution control permits for sites in Alabama and Tennessee and that Southern Coal and Premium Coal Company failed to complete necessary stabilization work at three Tennessee sites on time…