Judge scuttles environmental review of Army expansion plan

A federal judge has thrown out an environmental review of the Army's plan to increase its training at a site in southeast Colorado. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch (maych) in Denver issued a ruling Tuesday overturning a 2007 environmental analysis. The ruling says the Army didn't adequately assess the environmental impacts of the increased intensity and duration of training at its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. The ruling comes in a challenge by area ranchers who oppose stepped-up training and proposed expansion of the 370-square-mile site to about 525 square miles. The Army says it needs to increase training and expand the site to accommodate new weapons, tactics and soldiers from Fort Carson, 90 miles to the northwest. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Denver says federal attorneys haven't had time to review the decision. AP