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Environmental

May 28, 2009

Turtle advocates to sue government agencies

In 2007, conservationists asked the federal government to declare the loggerhead sea turtle, a species that spends its summers in Virginia coastal waters, an endangered species. The government never responed, reports The Virginian-Pilot, so lawyers from three national advocacy groups are expected to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife […]

Feb 26, 2009

Prof. Cannon selected for EPA post

President Obama has named University of Virginia law professor Jon Cannon to the No. 2 post at the Environmental Protection Agency. His position as deputy administrator of the EPA is subject to Senate approval, according to The Daily Progress. If approved, he will take a leave of absence from the law school.

Feb 13, 2009

Mine companies win mountaintop appeal

A divided panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Friday to allow mountaintop removal mining without more extensive environmental reviews.  The 2-1 decision was written by Judge Roger L. Gregory, joined by Judge Dennis W. Shedd.  Judge M. Blane Michael wrote a dissent. As reported by the Associated Press, the rulings are […]

Feb 11, 2009

New administration won’t halt drilling plans

Plans for selling oil and gas drilling rights in the waters off Virginia apparently will not be changed by the Obama team. According to The Virginian-Pilot, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said he would not intervene in a planned sale of exploration and drilling rights in Atlantic waters at least 50 miles off the […]

Oct 16, 2008

Judge reluctantly would allow clear-cutting

Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve. U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent made it perfectly clear where her sentiments lie in her report and recommendation issued yesterday in the Ison Rock Ridge logging case: “To a child of Appalachia, to see the mountains laid waste, whether by clear-cutting or strip mining, is to […]

Jul 28, 2008

Environmental groups challenge coal plant on two fronts

Environmental groups launched a two-pronged legal attack last week on a planned $8-billion coal-burning power plant in Wise County. The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of four other groups, sued in both Richmond Circuit Court and the Supreme Court of Virginia.  Two actions filed in the circuit court are administrative appeals of decisions by […]

Oct 16, 2007

Group files suit to stop Interstate 73

An environmental activist group has filed a federal lawsuit, seeking to stop construction of Interstate 73, a proposed highway from the Roanoke Valley to the North Carolina state line. But the Roanoke Times reports that a group called Virginians for Appropriate Roads filed suit in Richmond, hoping to halt funding for the $4 billion project.

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