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This news article originally provided by
The
Charleston Gazette
By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer
A federal judge on Tuesday suspended parts of his ruling that
blocked four Massey Energy mountaintop removal mining permits.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers ruled that Massey can
continue to dump waste rock and dirt into valley fills already
started at three of the four operations.
“Most of the substantial harm plaintiffs complain about has
already occurred,” Chambers said. “It cannot be undone.”
The judge ruled at the end of a two-hour hearing in Charleston.
A standing-room-only crowd of Massey miners, along with some
environmental activists, filled the courtroom.
Last week, Massey asked Chambers to suspend his ruling pending an
appeal. The company had already laid off 66 miners at one of the
operations covered, and said it anticipated more job losses if the
ruling stood.
In his Tuesday decision, announced from the bench, Chambers said
that Massey’s Aracoma Coal Co. subsidiary could continue to dump
waste into fills at its Camp Branch Mine in Logan County.
Chambers also declined a request by environmental groups,
refusing to block the company from also expanding its mining — but
not filling — operations into an undisturbed part of the Camp Branch
site.
Chambers also allowed Massey to continue dumping waste into fills
at its Black Castle Mine in Boone County and Republic No. 2
operation in Kanawha County. The judge did not suspend his ruling as
it applies to a fourth mine, called Laxare East, in Boone County
because the mine was already closed because of poor market
conditions.
In a March 23 opinion, Chambers blocked four U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers permits for Massey operations, ruling that agency
officials had not fully evaluated the potential environmental damage
before approving the operations.
Chambers cited an “alarming cumulative stream loss” to mining
valley fills, and said that the corps “does not explain how the
cumulative destruction of headwater streams already affected by
mining in these watersheds will not contribute to an adverse impact
on aquatic resources.”
In a follow-up order on April 6, Chambers had initially blocked
further operations at the Aracoma Mine, prompting the layoffs.
Joe Lovett, a lawyer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
and other groups, said that his clients did not oppose a limited
suspension of Chambers’ ruling pending an appeal by the industry to
the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“We’re not here to take away anyone’s jobs, particularly when it
concerns areas that have already been disturbed,” Lovett said.
To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call
348-1702.
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