Judge temporarily suspends Green Valley Coal mine permit

摘要

Massey Energy must argue in court to preserve a permit to mine at Green Valley Coal in Nicholas County, WV. U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend temporarily the permit, potentially threatening the closure of two deep mines and a prep plant. The judge will hear arguments in the case this week from the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, which wants the Corps to be enjoined from issuing the permit, and from Massey. The permit would allow Massey to dispose of waste in a stream. The case is the latest in a long string of green-driven lawsuits against mountaintop mining and valley fills. The plaintiffs are challenging the Nationwide Permit process through which the Corps issues permits, though not frequently, these daze. Greens argue that permits should be assessed on an individual basis.