The drastic action taken by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in West Virginia by cancelling a permit for a mine in Logan County has seen legal proceedings being filed in court.
Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a preliminary decision that the EPA may have exceeded its legal authority.
The EPA may have changed its permitting process for coal mines without going through the procedural steps that it should have as per the federal judge. This however did not prove that the action of the EPA has caused harm to the plaintiff and so the EPA’s crackdown on water quality issues due to controversial mining practices were currently being upheld.
So there was no court injunction issued to stop the EPA from shutting down the coal mining operations. However it is not an action that will go uncontested by the National Mining Association. A spokesman of the National Mining Association said that it was encouraged that the judge said its suit may prevail on the merits, but disappointed that there was no preliminary injunction granted.
EPA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said the agency was reviewing the judge's decision and had no immediate comment. The action of the EPA is not very popular with the local community which earns its living based on mining and related activities. They have been protesting the loss of close to 500 jobs due to the EPA’s actions.