Bragg v. Robertson

No. Civ.A. 2:98-0636 (S.D. W. Va. November 1, 1999)

ELR Digest

The court stays its permanent injunction barring a state environmental agency from approving mining variances to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act § 404(b)(1) buffer zone rule that prohibits mines from conducting valley fills within 100 feet of intermittent or perennial streams. The court first holds that the state environmental agency and other concerned defendants failed to satisfy the heavy burden to stay a motion. The court, however, in its discretion, grants the stay pending appellate action in an attempt to defuse the criticism and discord that the injunction engendered.

[Prior decisions in this litigation are published at 29 ELR 21316 and 30 ELR 20115.]

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (5 pp., ELR Order No. L-108).

Counsel for Plaintiffs
James M. Hecker
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Ste. 800, Washington DC 20036
(202) 797-8600

Counsel for Defendants
Michael L. Keller, Ass't U.S. Attorney
U.S. Attorney's Office
3201 Federal Bldg.
500 Quarrier St., Charleston WV 25301
(304) 345-2200

[30 ELR 20165]

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]