Indiana is defending a recent Department of Natural Resources decision to issue a permit for a 3,516-acre extension of White Stallion Energy's Liberty coal surface mine in Warrick County, a state official said Monday.
The city of Boonville and the Save Our Homes citizens group is challenging that permit through an administrative appeal, DNR attorney Samantha DeWester said in an interview.
"They have requested a stay of the effective permit," she added. The state is opposing that request.
US aluminum giant Alcoa, which owns the Liberty high-sulfur coal reserves that White Stallion mined, filed in January a lawsuit to overturn a new Boonville city ordinance that restricts mining to within 300 feet of a residence. The local citizens group contends their properties could be harmed by blasting and other mining activities if Liberty is allowed to expand.
