October 14, 2007

Sunday Gazette-Mail - News

This seems like an important step, and some unusual (and admirable) words from a federal judge too.

Sunday Gazette-Mail - News: "A federal judge on Thursday blocked a coal operator from starting a new valley fill at a mountaintop removal mine in Boone County. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a preliminary injunction that stops new mining at Jupiter Holdings LLC's Callisto Surface Mine near Bob White. Chambers ruled that permanent damage to streams and forests outweighed temporary and speculative economic harm to the company."

"Money can be earned, lost and earned again," Chambers wrote in a 12-page opinion, "a valley once filled is gone."

Chambers said it is "undisputed" that the mining would damage the environment. Also, the judge said, the permit approval was based on the same flawed environmental evaluation and mitigation techniques as others he previously has ruled were illegal.

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