A watershed group is lobbying against a renewed water discharge permit that mine operator LCT Energy is seeking for the Rustic Ridge coal mine.

The Mountain Watershed Association claims the new version of the discharge permit would increase the risk of flooding and erosion in Champion and Indian creeks while also increasing the concentration of heavy metals in the water and harming aquatic habitats.

Rustic Ridge Mine No. 1 lies under a border area of Donegal Township in Westmoreland County and Saltlick Township in Fayette County.

The association is expected to spell out its concerns Wednesday at a public hearing on the permit while state environmental regulators continue to review plans for the mine expansion.

“We raised millions of dollars to clean up the Indian Creek Watershed and bring it back from the dead,” Mountain Watershed representative and attorney Melissa Marshall said, referring to systems the group developed for pollutants draining from mines of the past. “It feels really disheartening to see active mining now degrade our stream we worked so hard to clean up.”

The watershed group claims the new version of the permit appears to omit existing flow limits for water that is discharged from the mine into the waterways. The association also argues the permit doesn’t take into account additional discharge flows that could result from increasing the mine’s underground acreage through expansion.

Marshall argued the discharge permit should be put on hold until the state Department of Environmental Protection has come to a determination on the mine expansion permit.

“There are 1,400 more acres of underground mine water that would be discharged,” she said, adding LCT is “not proposing any modified treatment of water that acknowledges that expansion.”

DEP spokesperson Lauren Camarda pointed out the hearing will address only the discharge permit, not LCT’s separate application for permission to expand the mine.

The proposed expansion would increase the Rustic Ridge Mine’s underground permit area from about 2,845 acres to about 4,297 acres.

The expansion would cross underneath the Pennsylvania Turnpike, continuing north of Donegal and below an area following the path of Route 711. Mining would occur along a coal seam ranging from 200 feet to 690 feet below ground.

Last year, LCT officials projected the expansion would keep 100 miners employed for about six years.

LCT maintains the system it has in place to treat and discharge water from its existing mine is adequate to also handle water from the proposed mine expansion, Camarda said.

With the expansion, LCT states it will need to treat a little more than 1 million gallons per day of mine water while its existing system was designed to treat a little more than 2 million gallons per day, according to Camarda.

Camarda said the draft permit does include maximum flow figures for three mine water discharge points and would comply with previously agreed flow limits.

“LCT and Mountain Watershed Association have entered into a private agreement in which LCT has agreed to limit the volume of water being discharged from Rustic Ridge,” Camarda said. “As part of the draft (discharge) permit, a monitoring and compliance program has been established.

“In its application, LCT acknowledges the limited mine water pumping rate of 1.44 (million gallons per day) that was part of the private settlement agreement.”

The Mountain Watershed group has expressed additional concern that, by expanding its underground mine north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, LCT could end up draining water from Four Mile Run, in the neighboring Loyalhanna Creek Watershed, and discharging the excess water into the Indian Creek Watershed.

The DEP doesn’t believe that would occur.

“Any transfer of water that may occur as a result of the expansion would occur in the deep regional groundwater flow and is not anticipated to impact the shallow groundwater flow that supplies the surface water bodies located within the watersheds, Camarda said.

Officials at LCT didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The mine discharge permit hearing is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at St. Raymond of the Mountains Parish, 170 School House Lane, Donegal.

Members of the public will have up to three minutes each to speak at the hearing. Registration was required by Tuesday night.

Copies of testimony and any supporting exhibits should be submitted at the hearing or emailed by 4 p.m. Sept. 2 to Lori Jenkins at lorjenkins@pa.gov.

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