Justice Department SUES West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice to collect $5 million in fines

The Justice Department on Wednesday charged West Virginia Republican Governor Jim Justice with an indictment alleging that his 13 mining companies “breached their legal obligations” by failing to pay fines and fines.

The civil suit comes as the Justice Department launches a Senate campaign against Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of the most influential members of the chamber who has provided critical support for President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the 128-page filing, the Justice Department mining companies “failed to pay uncontested fines determined for their undisputed violations” after being cited with more than 130 violations totaling $5 million in civil fines by the US Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Department of the Interior.

DOJ filed the application in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia.

The suit comes at a delicate time. Justice leads Manchin by 22 points, 54 to 32 percent, in a new poll for the West Virginia Senate race, according to an East Carolina University Center for Survey Research poll released Tuesday.

“Our environmental laws serve to protect communities from the adverse effects of industrial activities, including surface mining activities,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources said in a statement. “Through this lawsuit, the Justice Department seeks to hold accountable for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations.”

Manchin was already considered vulnerable simply by seeking re-election as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state.

He counts on his reputation for independence, having crossed the Biden administration with major regulatory initiatives and lengthy negotiations, but ultimately backing his Inflation Reduction Act.

Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) faces a challenge from Republican Governor Jim Justice. The Justice Department is suing Justice and companies controlled by it for fines totaling $5 million. A pipeline pushed by Manchin is included in the budget deal that will be voted on in the House on Wednesday

DOJ filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Virginia

Environmental groups cried after the permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline appeared in the budget agreement

The bipartisan budget deal that goes to a vote in the House on Wednesday includes allowing changes long pushed by Manchin. a stock which would require approval of the 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline that would cross part of his state has enraged environmentalists and some Democratic lawmakers who questioned why it ended in a budget compromise that must be approved to cut spending and extend the debt ceiling.

The 13 law enforcement owned or controlled companies were incorporated in Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware.

The suit makes no mention of his political role, describing Justice as “an individual residing in or around Roanoke, Virginia.”

Some of the Justice Department fines outlined in the lawsuit relate to declarations of quarterly coal produced.

The government cited Premium Coal, National Coal and S+H Mining with more than 100 violations between 2018 and 2022. They include ‘failing to maintain a dam’s face’, ‘failing to ensure a dam’s seismic stability’ and ‘causing the instability of the slope by improperly placing soil against a sloping windrow and exposing wood in the backfill.’