January 31, 2007
Taken courtesy of West Virginia Gazette

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

Three environmental groups on Tuesday asked a federal judge to block Arch Coal Inc. from operating on the largest strip mine permit in West Virginia history.

Lawyers for the groups said that “time is of the essence” because Arch’s Mingo Logan Coal Co. subsidiary has already begun clearing timber and brush to prepare for mining.

In papers filed late Tuesday, Joe Lovett of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment asked U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers to issue a temporary restraining order to block the company.

Lovett also asked Chambers to make the Spruce No. 1 Mine permit part of a case the judge is already considering that challenges permitting practices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Chambers had not ruled nor scheduled a hearing on the request.

Lovett represents the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Coal River Mountain Watch.

The groups are upset with the corps’ approval of the final government permit for the Spruce Mine, a long-controversial mine near Blair in Logan County.

On Jan. 22, the corps approved a Clean Water Act permit that allows Arch Coal to begin operations that would eventually bury nearly 7 miles of streams in the Pigeonroost Hollow area.

The Spruce Mine was at the heart of the first major lawsuit over mountaintop removal, and the project was blocked by an order from Chief U.S. District Judge Charles H. Haden II, who has since died.

Since then, Arch Coal has scaled back the operation, from the 3,113 acres originally approved to 2,278 acres. The current size still makes it the largest single permit issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection, DEP officials believe. The corps approved its permit for the Spruce Mine only after performing a lengthy study, called an environmental impact statement, on the mine.

In federal court in Huntington, Chambers is already considering a mountaintop removal lawsuit brought by the three environmental groups.

They argue in that case that the corps should be required to conduct an EIS on every mining permit for approval of the permit.

In Tuesday’s court filing, the groups argued that the corps’ EIS on the Spruce Mine was inadequate.

For example, they note that the corps’ approval document stated that “Overall, it would be anticipated that the Spruce No. 1 Mine would only contribute minimally to cumulative impacts on surface water quality.”

“This conclusions has no scientific basis,” the environmental groups told Chambers. “On the contrary, scientific studies demonstrate that valley fills significantly degrade downstream water quality, such as by increasing conductivity, and significantly alter the biological diversity of downstream aquatic life, such as by replacing pollution-intolerant macro invertebrates with pollution-tolerant macro invertebrates.”

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