Friday, February 05, 2010
Massey Versus Environmentalists
WEST VIRGINA...
In a continuing battle between environmentalists, Massey Energy seems to have won the latest legal wrangling. Massey has won a federal court order temporarily barring mining protesters from its southern West Virginia properties and the company is asking for the order to become permanent. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger granted the request last week in conjunction with a lawsuit filed by Massey targeting protesters who’ve spent the past year invading the Richmond, Va.-based company’s mine sites. They’ve variously climbed trees, chained themselves to heavy equipment, and repeatedly been arrested in hopes of stopping mountaintop removal coal mining. At Massey’s request, the judge applied it to the defendants’ officers, agents, lawyers and anyone working with the defendants, including Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice. Berger’s order likewise bars trespassing on any mining properties in the Southern District of West Virginia, home to most of the state’s surface coal production.
In a continuing battle between environmentalists, Massey Energy seems to have won the latest legal wrangling. Massey has won a federal court order temporarily barring mining protesters from its southern West Virginia properties and the company is asking for the order to become permanent. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger granted the request last week in conjunction with a lawsuit filed by Massey targeting protesters who’ve spent the past year invading the Richmond, Va.-based company’s mine sites. They’ve variously climbed trees, chained themselves to heavy equipment, and repeatedly been arrested in hopes of stopping mountaintop removal coal mining. At Massey’s request, the judge applied it to the defendants’ officers, agents, lawyers and anyone working with the defendants, including Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice. Berger’s order likewise bars trespassing on any mining properties in the Southern District of West Virginia, home to most of the state’s surface coal production.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:00 AM 
