Several environmental groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Army Corps of Engineers is properly issuing fill permits for mountaintop removal mines.
Thursday's filing asks the nation's highest court to overturn a February ruling by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In that ruling, the circuit court overturned U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers' 2007 ruling that required the corps to conduct more extensive environmental reviews before issuing permits that allowed mining companies to bury streams with excess rock and dirt.
In mountaintop removal mining ridgetops are blasted apart to expose coal seams.
The groups argue the corps issues permits in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
