The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch and Sierra Club have filed as friends of the court in support of the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement Friday that the agency would appeal a decision on a massive surface mine permit. In March, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C. ruled in favor of St. Louis-based Arch Coal subsidiary Mingo Logan Coal Co. regarding a vetoed surface permit, saying EPA's interpretation of law that it had authority to revoke the permit was false, and the EPA had overstepped its bounds. The permit had been issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but the EPA revoked the permit in January 2011, saying the environmental impact would be too damaging to the region. The organizations are being represented by Earthjustice and Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
