Appeals court reinstates permits for mountaintop removal coal mining

[Thom Little]

A federal appeals court Wednesday reinstated a streamlined Army Corps of Engineers process for granting permits for mountaintop-removal coal mining in West Virginia.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overruled a lower-court judge, finding that the corps complied with the Clean Water Act.

In mountaintop mining, hilltops are blasted away to uncover coal seams, and the leftover rock and dirt are dumped into adjacent valleys, burying streams.

Last year, in a victory for environmental groups, U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin last year revoked 11 permits issued by the Corps. Among other things, he said the Corps had not followed the proper procedures under environmental protection laws.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOUNTAINTOP_REMOVAL_KYOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-11-23-16-41-58

[Erika]

1. How sad. They just destroy mountain tops

for all time.

[firefox]

2. We are a fascist country.

I am on record at DU for saying the courts would not stop the removal of mountaintops because we are a fascist country.

No surprise here. And like I said before, I do not see this practice ending in my lifetime.

[etherealtruth]

5. Sadly, nor do I ...

As our natural resources are depleted (often looted), natural habitats destroyed and beautiful landscapes desecrated our government chants "Vive le corporation"

I am disgusted.

[drhilarius]

3. "For purple mountain majesties"?! Pshaw...

there's profit to be made!

[Lasher]

4. I live in the hills of southern WV

My house overlooks a river valley, where my family has lived for four generations. Directly across the river, a mountaintop removal operation is authorized by one of these 11 permits. I'll have to look at the ugly scars for the rest of my life. They will be there forever.

Some people think mountain top removal coal mining is a fine thing, but it's hard to find anyone who wants it to occur in their own back yard.

[Drum]

6. I sympathize completely!

I grew up in WV---up N in Wheeling, but traveled everywhere in my beautiful state---and even in the 70s and 80s strip-mining was an exploitive blight on the land, as awful as the sluice extraction of gold in the western US. These techniques are rape.

Please, all, reject and resist this awful practice!

Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers are always free)

[doodadem]

7. The big mountain down the road from us

Was bought last year by a company that intends to reduce it to rubble to make concrete. They propose to dynamite several times a week, and run dump trucks 20 hours a day, 6 days a week.
This is Jesse Morrow Mountain right on state highway 180. The mountain is the site of Native American burial grounds and artifacts. The mountain is huge, and is the main one you see coming out of Fresno and heading up to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. It is right on the Blossom Trail, a major tourist attraction here, and source of income for bed/breakfasts, restaurants, etc.
The mining would be a monumental eyesore, not to mention the environmental impact, and Fresno already has one of the highest asthma rates in the country.
The only bright spot has been that when the owner of the company first went to inspect the site, he was bitten by a wild pig. Go to
http://www.jessemorrowmountain.com

[NashVegas]

8. Let's Just Make Storms Even More Dangerous For Everyone

asshats.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Judges responsible for decision

Paul V Niemeyer *Bush 41
J Michael Luttig *Bush 41
Robert J Conrad Jr *Bush 43

Paul V Niemeyer attended five-day seminars on property rights and the environment at resorts in Montana, sessions underwritten by conservative foundations that are also funding a wave of litigation on those issues in the federal courts.

Funding for the seminars, run by a group called the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), also comes from foundations run by companies with a significant interest in property rights and environmental law issues, Internal Revenue Service records show.

J Michael Luttig assisted Bush Admin in gaining Senate confirmation of Souter and Thomas. Luttig, a Scalia protege, is admired by many conservatives in and out of the legal profession and is considered by many liberals to be a potential threat to such causes as abortion rights.

"I think there is no question that he is the most conservative judge on the most conservative court of appeals in the country," said John H. Blume, a professor at the Cornell University School of Law who has represented condemned inmates before the 4th Circuit.

[annabanana]

10. Meulenberg County..

Mr. Peabody's coal train just hauled it away..

nominated