(TargetLiberty.org) – On Wednesday, the DOJ filed a non-criminal complaint against Justice III, the son of W. VA Governor Justice (Republican), a Senate candidate for 2024. According to the Complaint Justice III and his thirteen coal companies have had unpaid fines for over one hundred and thirty violations of federal mining law between 2018 and 2022.
It is also noted that the companies have so far ignored more than fifty warnings from the government instructing them to pause operations until the issue is resolved. The unpaid fees plus interest for these violations have resulted in almost $8 million being owed.
Todd Kim, assistant AG for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in a statement noted that the environmental laws in place are there to help protect communities who are facing the negative effects of certain industrial activities, such as surface coal mining operations. He added that this filing would allow the DOJ to bring action and ensure that those who committed the violations would be brought to justice and the fees and penalties for the violations would be recovered.
In 2024, Governor Justice is going to be challenging Senator Manchin (D-West Virginia.), for his seat in the red state. The NRSC issued a statement in which they claimed that this action by the Biden admin was meant to target Governor Jim Justice because he has announced his participation in the Senate election.
In 2021, Governor Justice and business partner and his son were fined approximately $3 million by the state of Kentucky over claims that they had not complied with the mine-reclamation process for three mines.
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