Judge: Feds Didn't Follow Law in Okaying Two Colorado Coal-Mining Plans

n a move that could have far-reaching implications for the the West's ailing coal industry, a federal judge in Denver has ruled that U.S. Department of Interior officials failed to follow the law in approving expansion plans at two Colorado coal-mining operations — and that the agency has an obligation, in considering such plans, to take into account not simply the environmental impacts of mining but the negative health effects of burning the coal produced. Judge Brooke Jackson's decision came last Friday in a lawsuit brought by the environmental group WildEarth Guardians, challenging the DOI's approval of permit revisions at the Colowyo and Trapper coal mines, both of which have been operating in northwest Colorado since the 1970s. Both mines supply fuel to Tri-State Generation and Transmission's 650-megawatt, coal-fired power plant outside Craig...more