Comment 3/25/2025 To Oppose Renewal Of A Waste Coal Reprocessing Site


Mar 24, 2025

Your interests (clean air, water, stable climate, species preservation) are adversely affected by renewal of this permit.   Comment Tues, 3/25/2025 at 5PM EDT. Comment online at https://meet.google.com/zsp-jhvk-job?hs=224 or by phone at 1+678-631-8517 PIN 568550176 or by email to Laura.B.Claypool@wv.gov. Say that you oppose renewal of Taishan Coal LLC’s permit number O002084. 

Taishan reprocesses waste coal to send to China and buries the concentrated waste on site. They have a long-running series of sediment control violations, a Consent Order, and recently an Imminent Harm Cessation Order for black water pollution running into Wilcoe and the Tug River. 

Taishan’s permit expired 4/11/2024, but WVDEP extended the permit awaiting US Fish & Wildlife Service approval of their endangered species protection plan. USFWS approved the plan to protect endangered Indiana bats, northern long-eared bats, and threatened Big Sandy crayfish.

To protect the bats, Taishan may only destroy trees from Nov. 15 to March 31. To protect the Big Sandy crayfish, they must implement “best management practices” for erosion & sediment control and keep their sediment ponds cleaned out to 40% full or less. However, Taishan has already been violating these sediment control requirements. One violation for allowing sediment accumulation more than 60% of design capacity ran from 2/9/2023 until 7/31/2024. That’s 538 days, when the law allows only 90, and abated only after CRMW complained to federal oversight. 

Taishan Coal has demonstrated that they are unable or unwilling to operate the site in compliance with laws and permit requirements. WVDEP has demonstrated that they are unable or unwilling to take effective, meaningful enforcement measures.

You don’t have to live in the immediate area or even WV to comment. If you live on Earth, your interests are adversely affected. But Permit supervisor Laura Claypool seems to never deny a permit, regardless of comments. Comment anyway.