From Deseret News archives:
U.S. judge approves mining in forest
In a much anticipated ruling, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Wednesday lifted a temporary injunction that put the brakes on coal mining in the Manti-La Sal forest after Utah Environmental Congress sued over the project.
"The amount of coal lost would provide electricity to 476,796 households or (1.5 million) residents for one year," Benson wrote in his 28-page decision. "This is especially adverse to the public's interest in light of the president's energy policy that elevated the public interest in energy resources."
Benson also denied UEC's request to halt the project completely.
Conservationists were disappointed but not surprised and will appeal the decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The Utah courts have historically not been up to speed on environmental issues and have been consistently overturned in the 10th Circuit," said Stephanie Tidwell, executive director of UEC. "We come into this fully prepared to appeal."
UEC sued the Bureau of Land Management for approving Canyon Fuel's proposal to mine underneath a 143-acre portion of the East Fork of Box Canyon Creek drainage of the Manti-La Sal forest. In October, UEC won a temporary court injunction halting part of the project, but a big portion of it already has begun and, the group asserts, has damaged a 10,000-year-old prehistoric structure.
UEC attorneys argued that BLM, which controls the mineral rights on the Forest Service land, should have conducted additional environmental studies and disregarded the Forest Service's concerns about mining underneath a perennial stream, which could cause shifting and cracking that would alter the flow of water.
Lawyers for the U.S. Attorney General's Office argued that BLM did address the concerns and determined that additional environmental analysis wasn't necessary.
Canyon Fuel attorneys focused their arguments on the importance the project has on the local economy. About 27 percent of Emery County's tax base is a result of the mining operations.
Benson sided with Canyon Fuel and BLM.
"When weighing the above alleged financial losses to the United States, state and local governments, not to mention Canyon Fuel, that would result . . . against the speculative claims of environmental harm alleged by UEC if the mining were permitted to go forward, the balance of the harm weighs in favor of denying the permanent injunction," Benson ruled.
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