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This news article originally provided by
The
Charleston Gazette
Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer
HUNTINGTON -- The Bush administration has not yet decided if it
will appeal the latest federal court ruling to more strictly
regulate mountaintop removal coal mining.
"It's still very much under consideration," said Cynthia J. Morris,
a lawyer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Morris joined lawyers for the coal industry and citizen groups
Thursday at a hearing to discuss the long-term implications of a
March 23 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers.
Chambers blocked four Massey Energy mountaintop removal permits,
ruling that the corps had not fully evaluated the potential damage
from the proposed operations.
In an 89-page opinion, the judge said without a complete evaluation,
the corps could not rightly conclude that none of the permits would
cause significant damage to streams and forests.
Chambers cited an "alarming cumulative stream loss" to mining valley
fills.
At Thursday's hearing, citizen groups indicated that they hope to
bring more corps permits into the case in an effort to force broad
reforms of the corps' permit review practices.
Coal industry lawyers and the corps objected, saying that they want
to avoid a "never-ending case" and get a final order from Chambers
that would be subject to appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Richmond, Va.
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