Bragg v. West Virginia Mining Association

Bragg v. West Virginia Mining Association

In this case, coalfield residents in West Virginia challenged the largest mountaintop removal mine ever proposed in Appalachia. 

In this case, coalfield residents in West Virginia challenged the largest mountaintop removal mine ever proposed in Appalachia.  Public Justice won a preliminary injunction against the mine, and the mine’s permit was later withdrawn.  Public Justice also won a settlement against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requiring preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement on mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia and a consent decree against the State of West Virginia that required it to reform and improve its mine permitting procedures.  The case also challenged the state’s failure to enforce a rule that prohibited the burial of streams by excess rock from surface coal mining operations.  The district court required the state to enforce the rule, but the appellate court reversed on the ground that the rule could only be enforced in state, not federal, courts.