The Northern West Virginia water treatment plant, which is Consol Energy's 103rd water treatment operation, is located near Maddington, WV and is designed to treat a maximum flow of 3500 gallons per minute of mine water.
The mine water is pretreated at these locations for metals removal prior to conveyance through approximately 34 miles of pipeline spanning virtually three West Virginia counties to the centralized treatment facility.
"This facility is significant to Consol Energy and West Virginia on many levels," Consol president Nicholas J DeIuliis said.
“First and foremost, it allows Consol Energy to sustain our investment in our longwall mining operations and the numerous family-sustaining jobs required to support those operations in northern West Virginia for the next 20 to 30 years.
“It also supports our transformation into a truly diversified energy company.
“When we launched the water division one year ago, we laid out our strategy of identifying synergies across our operations to streamline operations, convert liabilities into assets and minimize our environmental footprint.”
Consol said the facility’s design was based on a zero liquid waste treatment process, which comprises a raw water pretreatment system, a reverse osmosis membrane system, evaporation and crystallization of reverse osmosis reject and ancillary support systems.
The residuals from the treatment process, including softening sludge and mixed salts, will be disposed of in an onsite landfill, leaving no liquid or solid waste from the water treatment operations to be removed from the company’s property.
Construction of the facility got underway in April 2011 and was completed in May 2013.
The construction phase provided 400 jobs and the ongoing operation of the plant will require 30 full-time employees.
"This water treatment facility will allow Consol to continue its mining operations while helping to protect our state's waterways and, in turn, keep West Virginians on the job," West Virginian Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said at the plant’s dedication ceremony.
"Innovations like this plant keep West Virginia on the forefront of meeting our nation's energy needs while continuing to improve efforts to protect the environment."
Consol has signed on Veolia Water, a division of Veolia Environnement, as the plant’s operator with a 10-year operating agreement, backed by a performance guarantee.
Consol said the facility was constructed to meet regulatory standards imposed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental of Protection for chloride content of water discharged to receiving streams.
