Judge blocks 176-million ton coal mine expansion in Montana

A federal judge has blocked a proposed 176-million ton expansion of a central Montana coal mine in a ruling that criticized U.S. officials for downplaying the climate change impacts of the project and inflating its economic benefits.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued an order Monday barring Signal Peak Energy from mining in the 11-square mile expansion area at the Bull Mountain coal mine pending a new round of environmental studies.

Molloy says the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining must consider the environmental effects of shipping the fuel to customers in Asia and from the greenhouse gases and other pollutants emitted when the fuel is burned to generate electricity.

Courts in Colorado and Montana previously have issued similar rulings about greenhouse gas emissions from mine expansions. In those cases, the expansions ultimately were allowed to proceed following further environmental reviews.

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