UPDATE BELOW
As far as the court rulings go, it’s a mixed bag for the mountains and the people of Appalachia this week. Some good news, some not so good news.
First
the bad news. In Kentucky a judge ruled against the Sierra Club and other
environmental organizations who had brought suit to block a permit for a valley
fill that the Army Corps of Engineers had granted for a mountaintop removal
coal mining operation in the eastern part of the state.
When
folks challenge the legality of these permits, they usually concentrate on the
environmental harm that the mountaintop mining operation will bring to the
hills, valleys, and streams of Appalachia, but in this case, the first to do
so, the environmental groups said that the Corps had not considered the negative health effects that the valley fill would have on local residents.
The
judge, Thomas B. Russell, ruled in favor of the coal company, Leeco Coal,
finding that the Corps did “not act unreasonably” and “adequately analyzed the
issues” in issuing the permit. I’m uncertain if judge Russell considered the
growing evidence that living around mountaintop strip mining is hazardous to your health. Had he done so, he probably would have ruled otherwise.
In another courtroom, this one in West Virginia, a judge ruled that a coal
industry friendly law that was recently passed by the coal industry friendly
legislature of West Virginia did not protect coal companies from lawsuits
brought against the mining companies because of the pollution from their mines.
Coal
River Mountain Watch had brought suit against Alpha Natural Resources, saying
that discharges from the coal company’s Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment
bring about excessive selenium levels downstream, in violation of environmental
regulation.
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| The Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment. So big it would dwarf the Eiffel Tower |
Last year’s
legislation allows coal companies to declare that they are in compliance with
West Virginia water pollution standards if they meet certain discharge limits
for chemicals specified in their permits. The water pollution permit for Brushy
Fork does not specifically limit selenium discharges, despite West Virginia’s
separate water quality standard.
Judge
Robert C. Chambers, in his 36-page ruling, said that this shielding law does
not provide Alpha Natural Resources protection from enforcement from existing
state and federal laws that allow citizens to bring suit against polluting
companies.
There you have it. One victory, one defeat for the mountains and people of Appalachia.
UPDATE: 9/4/13 There is some hope in the Leeco case in Kentucky. On appeal of its case to a higher court, a District Court issued an order for Leeco to cease its operation of a mountaintop coal mine while the plaintiffs, Kentuckians For the Commonwealth, the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice, appeal their case to the Sixth Circuit Court.
UPDATE: 9/4/13 There is some hope in the Leeco case in Kentucky. On appeal of its case to a higher court, a District Court issued an order for Leeco to cease its operation of a mountaintop coal mine while the plaintiffs, Kentuckians For the Commonwealth, the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice, appeal their case to the Sixth Circuit Court.
