Mining Industry, Corps Score Victory in Coal Fill Case
The coal mining industry and the Corps of Engineers won a victory when a federal appeals court ruled the Corps didn't exceed its authority in permitting a coal company to place spoil in Kentucky valleys. In its Jan. 29 decision in the case, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a district court ruling that said the Corps went too far in issuing a fill permit.
The case is another development in the long legal and regulatory battle over the Corps' wetlands permitting authority under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In 2000, the Corps allowed Martin Coal Co. to put mining spoil in 27 valleys in Kentucky, filling about 6.3 miles of streams, the appellate court decision says.