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PA WEST VIRGINIA COMPANY EXECUTIVE SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 04/03/98
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FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1998

WEST VIRGINIA COMPANY EXECUTIVE SENTENCED FOR CLEAN
WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

On March 10, Paul Thomas of Morgantown, W.Va., president and co-owner of T&T Fuels Inc., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Elkins, W.Va., for violating the Clean Water Act by discharging millions of gallons of acid mine drainage in violation of state and federal permits. The Court ordered Thomas to pay $273,000 in back civil penalties and $170,400 in land reclamation costs to the State of West Virginia. In addition, he must pay two-thirds of the monthly cost of about $36,000 treating discharges from the mines owned by T&T as long as the mines discharge. Thomas was also ordered to serve six months home detention and five years probation. He previously plead guilty to discharging untreated and partially treated acid mine drainage from the T&T Fuels #2 Mine in Albright, W.Va., into Muddy Creek which flows into the Cheat River. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection.
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