The encryption mining company agrees to accelerate the cleaning pile of coal

The Ministry of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania and the TV mining company agreed to accelerate the cleaning of the company’s unspeakable coal in the northwest of Pennsylvania. The agreement was completed in early March.

The DEP was originally ordered StrongHold to clean the site by late 2027, but environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the agency, on the pretext that this was a very comfortable date. On March 6, the agency and the company agreed to end the cleaning by September 1, 2026.

The company owns the SCRUBGRASA Energy Station in KennerDell, Venango Province. the The plant burns charcoal wasteLow -class fuel left abandoned mining operations, to generate electricity. This electricity is used to manufacture encryption, which is a process where Power -thirsty computers The generation of digital currency such as bitcoin.

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The company, which did not respond to the suspension requests, stores the ash created from the factory on a temporary storage plate 5 acres.

“The idea is that coal ash will be stopped there for a short time while cooled, and then it will be transferred to the (permanent) disposal area,” said Charls Macaderan, a lawyer at Earthjustice, who represents the plaintiffs, said.

But a pile Outbreak The pillow.

“The walls virtuously. He said,” He was overflowing in a trench with the water running outside the site … He became completely out of control. ”

The company was told that it was unable to find the appropriate permanent disposal sites Documents It was submitted to the Environmental Foot up Council in Pennsylvania, the legal body that heard the case.

Bill Pretshard of the Association of Water Assemblies said he was shocked by the size of the lint, which spoils Estimates It reaches 325,000 tons, when he first saw it in 2023.

“It is a mountain. Britthard said:” For me, it was a blatant ignorance of their supervision. ”

Bretshard lives in Rock Zallal, about 20 miles south, but boats, passengers and bicycles in the relative entertainment areas along the Algheny River. He said he was concerned about the ash of coal, which usually It contains toxic minerals Like mercury, cadmium and arsenic, he was sitting on the naked ground.

The region had no containment system, and According to one expert witness It was rented by the environmental groups of the prosecutors, that it is “very likely” that the site leaks from heavy metals to nearby groundwater and surface flow.

“If we have a large storm, do the ingredients of the ash of coal enter into the ALGONG River?

As part of the agreement, the company will rebuild the trenches control in storm water around the site and take on the groundwater and surface water samples. In a statement, DeP said that the company is also required to pay a $ 28,800 Civil penalty “The division between the Commonwealth Fund in Pennsylvania for solid waste steps and a clean water box.

“Scrobgrass is also required to dig the monitoring well and conduct additional groundwater and surface water on the site,” DeP said. The agency said that the company will also request a DEP submitting with reports of a quarter of annual, to be verified through the site inspections.