Judge rules in favor of environmental groups

Chuck just doing his job (4.00 / 1)

When Chuck left the WV legislature as speaker a huge vacuum was created, one that has yet to be filled, good job Judge Chambers, still enforcing the law after so many years of public service.

---

by: JBdem4usa @ Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 17:09:35 PM CST

Chuck Chambers is an hippie! (4.00 / 2)

Chuck Chambers is anti-coal, pro-environment hippie who is intentionally trying to make every West Virginian lose his job.

Or not. Maybe he's just a wise jurist?

---

by: WV26003 @ Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 22:21:55 PM CST

Judge Chambers may have been swayed (4.00 / 2)

by recent news of the court ruling that the Army Corps of Engineers failed in their responsibilities to do a proper job in New Orlean's Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish.

Or Judge Chambers could have ruled in favor of environmental groups after taking into consideration that the Army Corps of Engineers had charge over the watersheds adversely affected when the Corps signed off on those Clean Water Act permits which lead to the serious contamination of the groundwater in Rawl, Lick Creek, Sprigg and Merrimac near Williamson, WV. Not to mention the well water in and around communities of Prenter and Seth, WV in Boone County.

Or Chambers could have sensed a pattern of wrongdoing if he found out that the Army Corps of Engineers apparently just "looks the other way" when it comes to the dangerously high level of perchlorate found in the New River below the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, Alliant Tech Systems near Keyser WV.

Or the judge could have been swayed by the abandoned dump pit site in Summers County where the Army Corps of Engineers used to train engineers to build and destroy floating bridges. He may have read where New River Gorge National River Park Staff took samples of effluent leaking from the abandoned site located within park boundaries. Seems that the Army Corps of Engineers reportedly used an unlined grease pit when servicing its vehicles. And,

just before the facility closed, residents reported that a semi-truck dumped barrels with unknown contents into this pit and covered them. source: NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL RIVER, GAULEY RIVER NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, AND BLUESTONE NATIONAL SCENIC RIVER, WEST VIRGINIA WATER RESOURCE SCOPING REPORT New River Gorge National River and Water Resources Division Technical Report NPS/NRWRS/NRTR-96/76

Finally, Judge Chambers may have remembered back when the Army Corps OF Engineers charged $9.5 million from the state of West Virginia for cleaning up and fixing bridges after the Buffalo Creek disaster. Which, by the way, should have never happened in the first place, had the Corps properly overseen the building and design of that sludge impoundment in the first place!

So with a lousy record like that, why should anyone ever trust the Army Corps of Engineers to protect the best interests of West Virginia communities or our environment?

---

by: One Citizen @ Wed Nov 25, 2009 at 10:21:26 AM CST

Statement from Sierra Club (4.00 / 1)

(From an email)

Federal Court Says Army Corps of Engineers Ignored Public Process in Issuing Permits for Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in WV

Decision Could Send Dozens of Pending Permits Back for Additional Public Comment

Charleston, WV. -- The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia scolded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tuesday for having issued two permits for mountaintop removal coal mining that did not follow public notification laws, a decision that could lead to the resubmission of hundreds of permits for new mining across Appalachia. The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Coal River Mountain Watch had brought a challenge against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Huntington, West Virginia and praised the ruling.

"Thank goodness for the judicial branch of government and the ultimate rule of law," said OVEC’s Vivian Stockman. "We’ve had to resort to the courts because the agencies that are supposed to protect the public are instead kowtowing to the coal industry. For the mountains, streams and communities that still remain, we now have time to comment on why it's not smart to destroy Appalachia in the name of 'cheap' energy."

The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers involves two mines: the Nellis mine in Boone County, West Virginia, operated by Loadout, LLC, and the Ike Fork Mine in Clay County, WV, operated by Fola Coal Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Consol Energy. Although significant mining has already occurred at the Ike Fork mine, Judge Chambers instructed the Army Corps to reissue the amended notice for the permits, respond to public comments, and reconsider the issuance of the permits.

"This decision reaffirms that the Army Corps permitting process has been violating the law," said Mary Anne Hitt, Deputy Director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "Now that the public will finally have full access to information about the true impacts of a project when they review mountaintop removal coal mining permits, we are confident that this destruction's days are numbered."

"The Army Corps' method for giving public notice has been to withhold the specific information needed by the public to understand and comment on mining projects, and then later dismiss the public comments that were submitted for lacking specificity," said Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Project Director at Public Justice. "The Court held that this violates the Army Corps' own regulations and is fundamentally unfair."

"Unfortunately, this decision is too late to save all the streams and communities near these sites," said Vernon Haltom with Coal River Mountain Watch. "We hope that public participation in the permitting process from this point on will be substantial, rather than the token pencil-whipping exercise we've seen from the Army Corps and failed agencies such as the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection."

The groups were represented in the legal challenge by the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment and Public Justice.

---

by: Clem Guttata @ Sat Nov 28, 2009 at 16:16:28 PM CST