Oregon Coast Alliance and local residents filed a lawsuit today in federal court challenging the approval of permits for a strip mine near Bandon in Coos County. Aimed at both the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Army Corps of Engineers the complaint alleges the agencies violated environmental laws when they granted permits to the chromite strip mining operation.
According to a press release Crag Law Center representing the complainants alleges
…the Army Corps and Fisheries Service failed to comply with the law when they determined that the mining would not significantly impact the environment and is not likely to adversely affect threatened species.
The suit asks the permitting agencies to comply with the…
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq., the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., and the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. to protect threatened species, aquatic resources, and the human environment from adverse impacts from a proposed chromite surface mine and related activities near Coos Bay, Oregon.
If successful, the suit could delay the chromite operation for months.
Plaintiffs seek a declaration that the concurrence letter and Section 404 Permit and are arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). As a result, plaintiffs respectfully request that this court set aside and remand the Section 404 Permit and concurrence letter pursuant to the APA.
Recently, despite having already begun construction on a processing plant, Oregon Resources requested a two year extension of property tax abatement for a total of five years in addition to three already received. The total cost to the taxing districts is upwards of $2.5M. The matter of the extension hit a bit of a roadblock recently and has not been approved by all taxing districts.
Funding for ORC is provided through The Sentient Group. Given the company began construction without any guarantee of tax savings the loss of the abatement shouldn’t have any impact on the company’s progress assuming their business plan is sound. A long delay in permitting or the risk of losing the permits for a use not consistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act may, however, put a chill in the hearts of the investors.
The lawsuit was filed in federal District Court in Seattle, Washington. The local communities are represented by Courtney Johnson and Chris Winter of the Crag Law Center, a public interest environmental law firm based in Portland, Oregon.
