Order finalizes a June decision finding U.S. Forest Service failed to account for climate impacts Additional Contacts: Gunnison County, CO — A federal court today overturned a coal mine expansion and eliminated a loophole permitting road construction for coal mining in western Colorado’s roadless public forest lands. The ruling by
U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson finalized the court’s earlier June
27 decision finding the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
broke environmental laws in approving Arch Coal’s plans to bulldoze through
1,700 acres of the pristine Sunset Roadless Area. The area is next to
Colorado’s West Elk Wilderness and was set for expansion of Arch’s West Elk
Mine. Earthjustice, a public-interest environmental law firm,
represented the High
Country Conservation Advocates, WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club in the
case. “Today’s ruling makes sure that coal mines can’t build roads in Colorado’s precious national forest roadless areas unless and until the Forest Service makes an honest accounting of the huge amounts of climate pollution that such mining may cause,” said Alli Melton, Public Lands Direction for Crested Butte-based High Country Conservation Advocates. The court’s June 27 ruling found that the Forest Service failed to disclose the climate change impacts of two previous decisions that allowed coal mining in the Sunset Roadless Area — the mine expansion itself, which allowed the mining of 20 million tons of coal, and the Colorado Roadless Rule, which contained a loophole that allowed road construction for coal mines in roadless forest in a 19,000 acre area in the North Fork Valley near Paonia. The loophole unlocked 347 million tons of coal for mining and combustion by allowing road construction for coal mines. Today’s ruling invalidates the coal mining loophole and leaves intact the rest of the Colorado Roadless Rule, which protects more than four million acres of roadless national forest in the state. The ruling also ensures that Forest Service and BLM will involve the public, and take a “hard look” at the climate pollution impacts of any future decision to approve an expansion of the West Elk Mine into the Sunset Roadless Area. “Our climate and our Colorado backcountry shouldn’t be sacrificed for coal,” said Jeremy Nichols, program director for WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy. “Today’s ruling simply reaffirms the importance of our public lands for maintaining healthy ecosystems and for reining in carbon pollution.” Today’s decision will have limited impacts on current coal mining operations in the North Fork Valley. Arch Coal’s West Elk Mine can continue to operate on its current leases; Oxbow’s Elk Creek Mine is currently idle due to a mine fire; and the Bowie Mine has no pending applications for coal mining under Forest Service roadless lands. “Agencies must look before they leap — under the law agencies must consider environmental impacts before reaching a decision,” said Sierra Club regional manager Roger Singer. “Colorado’s roadless lands are one of our state’s greatest treasures. We’re pleased to see the court’s decision allowing roadless area protections to continue while also stopping harmful coal mining expansion from occurring.”
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