|
|
 |
This article originally provided by
The Charleston Gazette
By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must stop stonewalling
environmental group requests for information about new
mountaintop-removal mining permits, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers ordered corps officials to
immediately notify lawyers for the Ohio Valley Environmental
Coalition when the agency issues new mining permits.
Chambers also blocked additional valley fill activities at locations
with three new mining permits until the mine operators provide
details of how far work on valley fills has progressed at those
sites.
The judge set a hearing for Wednesday in Huntington to hear
testimony about the three permits.
"What I don't want to see is streams and the area around streams
being disturbed between now and Wednesday in a way that creates the
kind of irreparable damage that the plaintiffs seek to prevent,"
Chambers said during a telephone hearing Thursday afternoon.
Chambers ruled on a request by citizen group lawyers to temporarily
block three new permits they allege might violate two rulings by
Chambers last year that require more corps scrutiny before the
agency authorizes valley fills.
The 2007 rulings are being appealed by the Bush administration and
the coal industry to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The
Richmond, Va.-based court has scheduled oral arguments for May 13.
On Wednesday, citizen group lawyers asked Chambers to stop valley
fills at the Tyler Morgan LLC mine near Standard in Kanawha County,
a Massey Energy permit in Raleigh County, and the Ike's Fork permit
of Fola Coal Co. in Nicholas and Clay counties.
Environmental groups allege the corps' permits suffer from the same
deficiencies cited by Chambers last year when he blocked four Massey
Energy permits and ordered more detailed permit reviews in the
future.
Corps lawyers and industry attorneys disagreed, telling Chambers
Thursday that the new permits address the issues raised in his
rulings last year.
In his March 23, 2007, ruling, Chambers concluded the corps had not
fully evaluated the potential environmental damage before issuing
the Massey permits.
Citing the "alarming cumulative stream loss" to valley fills,
Chambers ruled the corps needed to more thoughtfully consider
mining's potential impacts before granting permits.
In a second ruling on June 13, Chambers concluded the Clean Water
Act does not allow coal operators to build in-stream sediment ponds
at the bottom of valley fills.
|
|
