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Mountaintop removal issue in federal court
Date published: 9/24/2008
By LARRY O'DELL ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
RICHMOND --A lawyer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told a federal appeals court yesterday that the agency met all the legal requirements for issuing permits to a coal company to fill valleys with rubble from blasting the tops off several West Virginia mountains, a mining practice called mountaintop removal.An attorney for an environmental group disagreed, arguing that a federal judge correctly ruled that the corps failed to adequately assess possible environmental damage before issuing so-called valley fill permits to four mines operated by subsidiaries of Richmond-based Massey Energy. The corps and the coal companies are appealing U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers' 2007 ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel heard from both sides during a 75-minute hearing. The court usually takes several weeks to rule. The lawsuit was filed by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and two other environmental groups, which said the corps should have performed more extensive environmental reviews before issuing permits allowing Massey to fill valleys with material blasted from mountaintops to expose coal seams. Joe Lovett, an attorney for the environmental groups, said the permits allowed 23 valley fills and affected 12 miles of streams. "The corps simply failed in its duty to assess function," Lovett said. Corps attorney Michael Gray countered that the structural analysis provided all the information that was needed to determine whether a permit should be issued.
Date published: 9/24/2008
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