Judge sides with coal industry in EPA challenge

[The Northerner]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency went too far when it began reviewing individual Clean Water Act permits on mountaintop mining operations, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

In Washington, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton issued a partial summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by a coal mining industry coalition against the EPA and its administrator, Lisa Jackson.

The National Mining Association had challenged a 2009 decision in which the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to coordinate reviews of backlogged permit applications for waste disposal at Appalachia mountaintop mining operations that raise serious environmental concerns.

Walton ruled the EPA's 2009 process exceeded its statutory authority under the Clean Water Act. The process is limited to 29 permit applications in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwdvt4f6uz80qzvLBVu2Zt4o_9EA

[midnight]

1. That is too bad....

[nineteen50]

2. corporate courts of America

[Altoid_Cyclist]

3. Just freaking wonderful...

What good is it to have government "watchdogs" when they've been neutered and had their teeth filed down?

Sternly worded letters just don't have much use.