Ruling Limits Waste Disposal in Streams

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot issue permits that allow streams to be buried under excess rock and dirt from mountaintop removal coal mines, a federal judge in Charleston ruled.

U.S. District Judge Charles Haden’s 51-page ruling was in response to a request from the corps to clarify his decision ordering the agency to stop issuing the permits.

A coal industry spokeswoman predicted there would be 32,000 layoffs in Kentucky and West Virginia in the next five years if the rulings stand, but critics argue that number is exaggerated.

Haden said Huntington District cannot issue any more permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act “that have no primary purpose or use but the disposal of waste.”