A US federal judge on Thursday denied environmental groups' request for an emergency injunction to block coal mining at Alpha Natural Resources' Reylas surface operation in West Virginia.
But the subsidiary, Highland Mining, is blocked from conducting any coal mining at the Logan County site for two more weeks pending a possible appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. At press time, representatives of environmental groups didn't indicate a timetable for appeal.
The plaintiffs -- Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Sierra Club and Coal River Mountain Watch -- indicated earlier they plan to appeal US District Judge Robert Chambers' August 10 ruling that the US Army Corps of Engineers' reissuance of a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for the Reylas mine "was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law."
On Thursday, Chambers ruled from the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia that the plaintiffs "have demonstrated irreparable harm, and plaintiffs' harm outweighs that faced by defendants [the Corps]. Additionally, the public interest weighs in favor of granting this injunction."
"However, because plaintiffs have not shown a sufficient likelihood of success on appeal, the court will not grant an injunction pending appeal in this case," Chambers said, denying the plaintiffs' motion for an injunction against mining at Reylas pending the appeal.
But Chambers extended "the current stay of mining activities for an additional 14 days, in order to give plaintiffs an opportunity to seek relief in the Court of Appeals."
Alpha spokesman Rick Nida said in a Thursday email that the Highland subsidiary "is pleased with the ruling and agrees with the judge's comments that the plaintiffs did not show a sufficient likelihood of success on appeal and therefore denied the injunction pending appeal. We continue to believe the professionals at the Corps of Engineers, who worked on this permit for a number of years, acted appropriately in issuing it."
Nida did not specify a timetable for commencing mining at Reylas, a proposed 1 million short ton/year surface mine in Logan County, West Virginia.
Vernon Haltom, executive director at Coal River Mountain Watch, said in an email, "Expecting the Corps, without 'experts,' to grant permits that have such profound and long-lasting impacts on the communities' health and environment is comparable to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles granting medical licenses. In this case, it's akin to granting a medical license to someone with a history of malpractice."
