NORFOLK, Va. (CN) - The Sierra Club and the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards asked the Federal Court to reverse a nationwide permit that the Army Corps of Engineers granted, allowing A&G Coal Corp. to destroy more than 14,000 linear feet of streams. The groups say the Corps of Engineers did not analyze the environmental impact of a proposed surface mine in Wise County, Va., which will dump 11.1 million cubic yards of dirt into nine valley fills, until the permit was issued, which kept the public out of the process.
The plaintiffs want a declaration that the Corps of Engineers violated the Clean Water Act and that its notion that the permit will do little damage because of compensatory mitigation has been refuted by members of its own organization.
The Sierra Club is represented by Walton Morris of Charlottesville.
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