"EPA Loses First Round in Mine Permit Crackdown Case"

"A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ruled with the coal industry — and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection — in the first phase of a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s crackdown on mountaintop removal mining."

"U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its authority when it began a much more intense review of individual Clean Water Act permits normally handled by the Army Corps of Engineers."

Ken Ward Jr. reports in the Coal Tattoo blog via the Charleston Gazette October 6, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Judge rules in favor of coal in Obama mine crackdown" (Charleston Gazette)