{Washington, D.C.}...Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton in Washington dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and other groups, who challenged the removal of the Blair Mountain Battlefield from the National Register of Historic Places. The 1,600-acre battlefield in Logan County was briefly added to the Register then removed when private property owners objected. The groups claimed they would be harmed if the battlefield were mined because they would be unable to enjoy it as a historical resource. Judge Walton ruled that the environmental groups have no standing to bring the challenge because they have to show that failing to add the battlefield to the register would cause them actual harm. Judge Walton said coal companies have owned permits to mine pieces of the property for decades and have not done so, and, even if Blair Mountain was included on the register, companies with existing permits still could mine the site.
