Environmental Groups File Notice of Intent to Sue DEP; DEP Responds With Permit Applications

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Rivers Coalition have given the DEP notice that they will sue over the failure of DEP to obtain NPDES permits for discharges from abandoned mines that have defaulted to the state. There's a posting here on the Conservancy's website, but the 60 day notice is not found there. Here are some snippets from the posting:

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition have given the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection notice that they intend to file suit if the agency does not prevent water pollution from abandoned mines that it now controls. There are well over one hundred such mines.
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In January, the Conservancy and the Rivers Coalition gave the DEP the required notice. If the agency does not correct its violations, the groups could then go to court to require the DEP to do its duty.

I just received this notice of proposed NPDES permit issuance to the DEP Special Reclamation from . . . the DEP. I am assuming that the agency is responding to the notice of intent by starting to issue itself NPDES permits for abandoned mine discharges:

Notice is hereby given that WVDEP OFFICE OF SPECIAL RECLAMATION, 601 57TH St S.E., Charleston, WV 25304-2345 has submitted an application for the issuance of Article 11 /WVNPDES Permit No. WV10235497 to the Department of Environmental Protection, 105 South Railroad St, Philippi, WV 26416-1150 in order to operate a water treatment facility. The operation will discharge into an unnamed tributary of Squires Creek of Three Fork Creek of Tygart Valley of Monongahela River and is located 4.0 (miles), northwest of Kingwood , in Preston District of Preston County, Longitude 79? 45' 00” and Latitude 39? 28'