United States v. H.G.D. & J. Mining Co.

No. 80-3187 (561 F. Supp. 315, 18 ERC 2107) (S.D. W. Va. April 1, 1983)

ELR Digest

The court holds that coal dredging operations are subject to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Defendant dredged commercial quantities of coal that had been washed into the Guyandotte River from upstream loading and mining operations, abandoned mines, and exposed seams. The United States sued to collect a reclamation for under § 402(a) of SMCRA for over 16,000 tons of coal dredged. Defendant claimed that its operation was not a "surface coal mining operation" as defined in SMCRA. The court holds that minimg, in its everyday sense, refers to any process for extracting minerals from the earth, and surface mining refers to mining not requiring miners to go underground. Under these constructions, defendant's operation is a "surface mining operation" governed by SMCRA. Although the SMCRA definition, § 701(28), limits surface mining to operations "on the surface of lands," the court holds that "lands" includes waters on the earth's surface. A central purpose of SMCRA, to reclaim despoiled waterways, requires this construction. Also, defendant's processing of the dredged coal constitutes mining activities under § 701(28)(A), and defendant's processing and hauling constitute surface mining operations under § 701(28)(B). The court finds defendant's operation to be akin to placer mining, the recovery of minerals naturally washed from their original location and deposited in concentrations downstream. Under Office of Surface Mining Regulations, 30 C.F.R. § 8705, defendant's acts constitute a reclaimed coal operation, which is expressly considered a form of surface mining. Defendant has title to usable coal on more than two acres of land and does not qualify for the two-acre exception of SMCRA § 528.

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (10 pp. $1.75, ELR Order No. C-1314).

Counsel for Plaintiff
S. Benjamin Bryant, Ass't U.S. Attorney
P.O. Box 3234, Charleston WV 25332
(304) 345-2200

Counsel for Defendant
Carl L. Fletcher Jr.
Spilman, Thomas, Battle & Klostermeyer
P.O. Box 273, Charleston WV 25321
(304) 344-4081

Staker, J.

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]