Font ResizeDenver » A federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday on whether UtahAmerican Energy Inc. can begin coal-mining operations at the Lila Canyon mine east of its ill-fated Crandall Canyon mine, site of the deadly 2007 collapse that killed nine workers.
A coalition of environmental groups, led by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, sued the federal government to halt the project after regulators approved the plan. The coalition claims mining infrastructure would destroy vegetation and soils at the mouth of the ecologically sensitive canyon in east-central Utah.
UtahAmerican is not a defendant, but has weighed in on the government's side as an intervenor in the case.
In 2007, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, while noting that mining operations "might cause some irreparable harm" to the canyon's ecosystem, rejected the environmental coalition's claims. The alliance "failed to present sufficient evidence" to halt the process, Kimball said.
The alliance appealed Kimball's ruling in Salt Lake City's federal court to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Arguments before the three-judge appellate panel centered on technical issues about whether the U.S. Bureau of Land Management properly followed the leasing and permitting process to allow mining in the canyon.
The Lila Canyon mine is one of the last high-quality coal deposits in the state, UtahAmerican has said. The
The alliance's lawyer, Stephen Bloch, said afterward that the judges' questions seemed to indicate that they had concerns about the process.
"The judges were troubled," Bloch said, "that [UtahAmerican] seemed to be taking advantage of the BLM by misinforming them" of its plans.
Government lawyer Jared Bennett said it's difficult to glean much insight from oral arguments. "You can never guess what the court is thinking," he said.
Attorneys for UtahAmerican declined comment.
The appeals court typically issues its opinions months after oral arguments are heard.
