Environmental Consulting Services during Consent Decree Negotiations
Client
Southern Coal Corporation
Services Provided
Advice on Consent Decree negotiations, Advice on environmental policy development, Data management system development and implementation, Integrated environmental management system development and implementation, Operating procedure, template, and training material development, Education and training on environmental and data management systems
Location
Roanoke, Virginia
Project Practice Areas
Environmental Management
Type of Facility
Coal mining
Project Specifics
Southern Coal Corporation (SCC) is among the largest privately held metallurgical coal producers in the country and has a large permitted reserve. SCC is in negoatiations with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and five states to settle claims under the Clean Water Act.
As part of the negotiated settlement, SCC agreed to implement a compliance-focused Environmental Management System (EMS), and retained Geosyntec to serve as the EMS Consultant and to support SCC with development and implementation of its new EMS. In addition, Geosyntec worked with SCC to develop a management system for its environmental compliance monitoring data.
Geosyntec Scope of Services
Geosyntec provided SCC with advice on its environmental policy and supported SCC in developing and publishing an EMS Manual to be submitted to EPA for review and approval. Geosyntec worked with SCC to develop the management system procedures and formulate an implementation plan. We also worked with SCC to develop operating procedures, templates, and training materials.
In addition, Geosyntec worked with SCC to develop a data management system based in MicroSoft Excel and Access to facilitate the collection, storage, and analysis of relevant environmental data. The system was another requirement of the negotiated settlement. We developed the system, assisted in the import of relevant historic data, and developed violation tracking functionality and facility navigation forms and permit exception reports.
Notable Accomplishments
Geosyntec helped SCC avoid having to secure an initial review and evalution of its existing environmental management practices and documents and is providing SCC with a low-cost alternative to the “one-size fits most” commercially-available environmental data management platform.
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