Continuing its War on Coal and showing its complete disregard for our hard working miners and managers, the EPA announced it will appeal a March ruling issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that overturned the EPA’s decision to void (veto) Arch Coal’s existing Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for Mingo-Logan Coal Co.’s Spruce Mine No. 1 in Logan County. EPA’s retroactive veto of this permit, which was originally issued in 2007 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was challenged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the company. In her very strongly worded decision, District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that EPA had overstepped its authority and she described EPA's defense of its veto as “magical thinking” and the agency's interpretation of its authority under the Clean Water Act as being “illogical and impractical.” We’ll keep you posted.
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