Big Stone II Utilities Pull Plug on Massive Coal Plant Project

Sierra Club and its allies achieved a monumental win on November 2, 2009, when the participating utilities in the proposed Big Stone II project announced that they would no longer pursue building the project’s massive coal-fired power plant and related transmission facilities. This decision comes shortly after Otter Tail Power Company, the lead developer of the project, pulled out; Otter Tail cited the economic downturn and the likelihood of federal climate legislation as reasons for not investing in the project. Remaining participating utilities were unable to find a new financial partner to replace Otter Tail.

Sierra Club’s Law Program and Minnesota and South Dakota activists have been fighting this massive coal plant project for four years, opposing the plant before the South Dakota and Minnesota Public Utilities Commissions, the South Dakota Board of Minerals and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sierra Club attorneys also challenged the coal plant in state and federal court. This decision is largely the result of a strong multi-state effort against the project and represents a major victory in the Club’s fight against dirty energy sources and global warming. To read more, click here.

Petition Seeks Greater Attention to Environmental Justice Considerations in Review of Mining Permits in Appalachia

On October 5, 2009, Sierra Club and its allies took action to address environmental justice issues associated with mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. A coalition of Appalachian residents and community organizations submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the agency to incorporate environmental justice considerations into its review of pending applications for mountaintop removal coal mining permits, among other actions. Mountaintop removal mining is an extremely destructive practice that destroys mountains and streams, and disproportionately impacts low-income Americans. The petition outlines how EPA has the responsibility under Executive Order 12898 to address the environmental justice impacts of mountaintop removal mining, and has the authority under the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and other laws, to do so.

On September 30, 2009, EPA announced that it is undertaking a coordinated review of 79 applications for mountaintop removal mining permits in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The petition asserts that these, and all future applications for mountaintop removal coal mining permits, should be scrutinized by EPA to identify and address any disparate impacts the proposed mining may have on vulnerable, economically disadvantaged communities. The petition also asks EPA to create an environmental justice plan and strategy for the region, and to ensure a meaningful opportunity for public participation by the Appalachian coalfield communities in EPA's permit review process.

Attorney Peter Morgan, of the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, worked closely with Appalachian community members and activists to prepare the petition. To view the petition, click here and here. To read Sierra Club’s press release, click here.

Sierra Club Recognizes Attorneys for Outstanding Work in Appalachia

On September 26, 2009, Sierra Club was honored to present attorneys, Joe Lovett of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and Environment and Jim Hecker of Public Justice, with the William O. Douglas award, which recognizes those who have made outstanding use of the judicial/legal process to achieve environmental goals. Working together since 1998, Joe Lovett and Jim Hecker are the two leading legal advocates on the front lines of the fight against the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. Among their many notable victories, Lovett and Hecker secured the first injunction blocking a mountaintop removal mine and have since secured injunctions on approximately fifteen individual permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for other mountaintop removal mines.

The two have been invaluable allies in Sierra Club’s campaign to fight mountaintop removal mining and have represented the Club in several legal challenges against the destructive practice. To highlight a couple of monumental wins, Lovett and Hecker worked closely with the Club to bring numerous challenges against the massive Ison Rock Ridge mine in Virginia, which eventually led to the suspension of the permit authorization for the mine. The two also represented the Club in a lawsuit challenging the Thunder Ridge mountaintop removal mine in east Kentucky; that action led to the Army Corps, in an unprecedented move, temporarily suspending its permit authorization for that mine. Since that time, the Army Corps has issued virtually no new permits allowing mountaintop removal mining in east Kentucky. The tremendous success the Club has achieved in its legal campaign to fight mountaintop removal mining simply would not have been possible without their assistance.