Mining in the Forest Deep-Interior's Promises to Keep

摘要

There are few mining cases that, in the attempted resolution of one issue, involve the courts, Congress and the President of the United States, all taking an active hand, and still leaving the issue substantially unresolved. That state of affairs presents itself in the apparently never-ending saga of Kerr-McGee Corporation et al. v. United Slates, 32 Fed. CI.43 (Cl. Ct. 1994). Kerr-McGee Corporation and Kerr McGee Chemical Corporation (collectively "Kerr-McGee") and Global Exploration and Development Corporation, ("Global"), (all collectively referred to as "plaintiffs"), over thirty years ago, first filed applications for phosphate prospecting permits on acquired lands in the Osceola National Forest (the "Forest") in Florida. In the late 1960s Kerr-McGee and Global discovered substantial phosphate deposits on those lands. Far from being a source of endless joy, that discovery has been the source of endless lawsuits by plaintiffs, environmental groups, and the State of Florida. In thirty years hardly an unlitigated breath has been drawn by those involved with the Forest phosphate discovery. An unending stream of time, effort and money has been spent in the fine art of applying political pressure to Congress and the executive branch. Bills, hearings, a Wilderness Act, and ultimately a Congressional reference to the Courts has been Congress' attempted solution. Victory and defeat are shimmering mirages; always within grasp, but never the final reality.