Commonwealth Attorney Seeks Injunction to Halt CONSOL Plan
Complaint Filed on Behalf of County

   Commonwealth Attorney Sheila Tolliver filed a bill of complaint in Buchanan Circuit Court Friday, seeking an injunction on behalf of Buchanan County to put a stop to CONSOL's  plans to discharge mine water into the Levisa River.
  The injunction seeks a temporary and a permanent stop to Consolidation Coal Company's plan to discharge water from the Buchanan No. 1 mine into the Levisa. The company originally filed a permit application with Virginia's Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in August 2005 seeking permission to construct a system to discharge the water near Poetown.
  Since knowledge of the plan was made public, questions have been raised regarding the safety and impact of the mine water, with the Grundy Industrial Development Authority going as far as hiring a Marshall Miller representative to analyze the potential effects of CONSOL's plan on the body of water.
  The purpose of CONSOL's application is to modify its mine water handling and disposal plan so that it will be allowed to discharge up to 10,000 gallons per minute of chloride and iron contaminated, untreated mine water into the Levisa, the injunction request, filed August 31, reads.
  It points out CONSOL has amended its August 2005 application at least five times.
  "Section 62.1-194.1 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended, provides that, 'Except as otherwise permitted by law, it shall be unlawful for any person to dump, place or put, or cause to be dumped, placed or put into, upon the banks of or into the channels of any state waters any object or substance, noxious or otherwise, which may reasonably be expected to endanger, obstruct, impede, contaminate or substantially impair the lawful use or enjoyment of such waters and their environs by others,'" the request for injunction notes.

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Grundy Redevelopment Site Infrastructure Nearly Complete

   One more inspection on the redevelopment site is left to finish up work on the infrastructure segment of the Grundy Flood Control Project.
   Town of Grundy Industrial Development Director Chuck Crabtree said the contractor on the project, Crosspointe, has finished the majority of the water, sewer and storm drain work on the site and is in the process now of taking care of a few punch list items before the site is ready for development.
   Crabtree said he expected that work to be complete by mid-September.
   A meeting of the Grundy IDA was held Tuesday night, however the results of that meeting were not available at press time.
   Crabtree said last week, however, that Thompson & Litton, the engineering firm on the infrastructure project, had been invited to attend the meeting for the final update and closing out of that segment of the project.
   In the next few months, Crabtree said, residents may expect to see the developer, Commonwealth Developers, to do some excavating on the site to reach the actual construction grade.
   “The developer has done some additional core drilling and plans to beef up the foundation on the parking building (which will sit under the new Wal Mart),” Crabtree said. “The Wal-Mart designers felt it should be beefed up more.”
   Crabtree said the additional foundation work will be an additional cost to be incurred by the developer.
   Crabtree said he could not give an exact date on when construction of the new town will begin, however he said the developer has indicated his intent to get the foundation poured on the site before winter.
   “The bottom line is Wal-Mart is coming,” Crabtree said, noting any discussion in the community to the contrary is purely speculation and rumor.
   In the meantime, as E. Luke Greene Company nears completion of the demolition of the downtown buildings, Bizzack Inc. is moving in right behind, beginning construction on the new and improved Rt. 460.
   Crabtree said motorists could expect some change in traffic patterns in the near future as the demolition is completed and work is started on the bridge at the intersection of Rt. 83 and Rt. 460. Plans are to close the road there just past Maple Street and channel traffic across where the buildings used to be to the back street. Doing so, he has noted in the past, will allow the contractor to complete the bridge work more quickly and will further lessen traffic delays.
   Announcement of the traffic pattern change will be made prior to it taking effect.
   Work is also continuing in Slate Creek by TAB Construction as the ringwall project is now well underway. TAB is currently laying the foundation for that wall which will ultimately protect the remaining downtown area, including the Buchanan County Courthouse, from future flooding.

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