CHARLESTON — The U.S. Department of Justice wants West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal companies to comply with a consent order to which he previously promised to address environmental violations.
The DOJ said that James C. Justice Companies failed to comply with stream restoration requirements in a 2016 consent decree involving Turkey Creek in Monroe County.
The DOJ and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection want a federal judge to enforce the consent decree, arguing that Justice and his companies failed to submit reports after the restoration like they were supposed to.
They argue that the defendants violated the Clean Water Act in failing to restore the streams.
The DOJ claims it requested an answer from Justice and his companies on multiple occasions over the last several years, including at least twice in 2018, once in 2019, twice in 2020 and twice in 2021.
This isn't the first time this year Justice's companies have gotten into trouble for not complying with consent decrees. Earlier this year, another Justice-owned company was in trouble for not complying with a consent decree that ordered the company to pay $900,000 in civil penalties for water pollution violations.
Justice's companies have also made the news several times this year for failure to pay loans. Justice even sued Carter Bank earlier this year regarding loans he had personally guaranteed.
In the Carter Bank lawsuit, the bank and Justice eventually came to an agreement and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
“CB&T will dismiss the legal actions that it filed against James C. Justice II and Cathy Justice in the Martinsville, Virginia, Circuit Court, and the Justice companies will dismiss their federal action against CB&T and its directors in the Southern District of West Virginia,” a statement said. “The resolution marks a resumption of the companies’ previous business relationship with CB&T and will allow them to maximize performance in the current favorable markets in mining, hospitality, and agriculture.”
The Justice companies sued Carter Bank on May 31, a day before the loans were due. The lawsuit alleged the bank refused to work with the companies to restructure or refinance loans. The bank, in turn, argued the lawsuit was nothing more than a stall tactic to avoid payment on the loans.
Justice’s companies are involved in other litigation, including a lawsuit they filed against Greensill Capital, another financial institution, claiming Justice wouldn't have personally guaranteed $700 million in loans if he were aware of the instability of the lender. Justice, his wife and son, Bluestone Resources, Bluestone Coal Sales Corporation and Blackstone Energy allege Greensill and other defendants were well aware of the risks of forcing the plaintiffs into engaging in a high yield debt refinancing.