CONSOL Energy has selected Veolia Water to design, build and operate a new state-of-the-art mine water treatment system to be located near Mannington, West Virginia. Construction of the Zero Liquid Waste Discharge system is slated to begin in July 2011. The agreement includes a 10-year operating partnership with CONSOL, plus additional 5-year options to operate the facility, coupled with an environmentally sustainable design and construction approach. Veolia Water will be treating mine water from CONSOL’s Blacksville #2, Loveridge, and Robinson Run mining operations.

Full operation of the treatment facility is expected to commence by May 2013. The project is expected to create approximately 200 construction jobs over the next two and a half years and will require about 20 permanent employees to operate the facility. The Veolia team will be utilising local construction partners and personnel from its Pittsburgh office. Veolia Water is a division of Veolia Environnement, a global leader in sustainable environmental services, with more than 155 years of global water treatment experience. The company believes that this expertise will be key to the design and operation of this new system which will treat high-volume mine water with numerous constituents. “Veolia is the perfect partner with which to collaborate,” said Katharine Fredriksen, CONSOL senior vice president environmental strategy and regulatory affairs. “They bring design and operational experience with over 75 Zero Liquid Discharge plants around the world.”