Colorado Coal Mine Beats Challenge to Permit for Expansion

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement lawfully issued a permit for the expansion of a coal mine in Colorado, the Tenth Circuit ruled Monday, declining to vacate the permit and halt mining.

Citizens for Constitutional Integrity and Southwest Advocates Inc. sued the agency, alleging that it unlawfully granted the revised permit—which included the Dunn Ranch Area expansion of King II Mine in La Plata—to GCC Energy LLC, the operator of the coal mine.

The groups claimed that the agency violated the requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act when it determined that two environmental assessments and ...