Before you call them, you might want to review a report from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/publications/AP/IssuesforFEandWater.pdf. Its a good treatise on water and fossil fuel issues generally, and the second chapter is all about water use and CTL. It tells us that CTL production requires between 5 and 7.5 gallons of water for each gallon of fuel, depending on whether you are using western or eastern coal. See page 20. The 7.5:1 ratio is for eastern coal, which is presumably what Consol will be using.

Aside from coal type, there also seems to be some variability in water usage depending on the type of coal conversion technology being deployed, so we will need to wait for Consol to respond to my water usage question before we know the exact ratio of water to fuel production they will incur before we know for sure.

Finally, In the same report, DOE NETL concludes that "Two issues in the placement of a CTL plant will be (1) availability of water and (2)the environmental concerns related to the discharge of water after use." (p.27). It goes on to say that "The withdrawal and consumption of water where the plant would be competing with other users…must be analyzed to further address potential shortages and environmental concerns."

Given that over 70% of West Virginia's surface water supply is already either threatened or impaired, (see EPA data on p. 26 of the aforemention NETL report) it seems fair to ask how CTL production will further impact what is already a stressed resource in West Virginia. I look forward to Consol's answer.