The Sierra Club, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition filed the three lawsuits in federal court Wednesday.

They accuse Alpha’s Alex Energy and Consol’s Fola Coal of contaminating Twentymile creek with sulphate and other chemicals in run-off from their mountaintop removal mining sites.

Consol of Kentucky’s Peg Fork mine is accused of discharging unlawful quantities of selenium into nearby streams.

Selenium is a naturally occurring element that is released into waterways during mountaintop removal mining.

Studies have found it is linked to a variety of health concerns when levels are high enough, and can be harmful to aquatic life.

It is extremely difficult and expensive to remove from water.

The groups are asking the courts to require the companies to abide by pollution regulations or to pay civil penalties up to $37,500 per day for each violation.

A bill currently passing through legislature proposes authorising the West Virginian state Department of Environment Protection to self-regulate discharges from coal mines and potentially allow an increase in selenium levels in water.

The bill will authorize the DEP to conduct a study to determine state-specific guidelines for how much selenium is acceptable in state waters.

If sites are found to have exceeded selenium guidelines, they will no longer be subject to enforcement action, but undergo additional monitoring.

The standard – which is five parts per billion -- is currently loosely enforced with long and extended compliance timetables.

Any changes to WV’s selenium standards must be approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the body responsible for setting selenium guidelines, or the state will face litigation.