WildEarth Guardians v. Mountain Coal Co.

The federal district court for the District of Colorado approved and entered a consent decree resolving a citizen suit brought by environmental groups against the operators of the West Elk coal mine in Colorado for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The consent decree requires the defendants to continue to pursue a Title V operating permit for the mine and requires the defendants to flare emissions from the mine’s ventilation boreholes in accordance with the Mine Safety and Health Administration Ventilation Plan for the mine until the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issues a final Title V permit. Once the permit is issued, the consent decree requires the defendants to comply with the permit’s provisions for two years and to provide the plaintiffs with notice of any deviation from the permit’s requirements within 30 days of commencement of the deviation. The defendants also must pay $135,000 to the plaintiffs’ counsel for the costs of litigation. The plaintiffs cited both volatile organic compound and methane emissions as concerns during the litigation.

Environmental groups and coal company defendants filed a joint motion to lodge a consent decree that would resolve the groups’ citizen suit alleging that the companies violated the Clean Air Act by operating the West Elk coal mine without a Title V operating permit. The consent decree would require the defendants to flare emissions from the mine’s ventilation boreholes in accordance with the Mine Safety and Health Administration Ventilation Plan for the mine until the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issues a final Title V permit. The defendants would also have to pay $135,000 to the plaintiffs’ counsel for the costs of litigation. The plaintiffs cited both volatile organic compound and methane emissions as concerns during the litigation.

The court granted a motion to stay all deadlines in the litigation pending approval of the settlement and directed the parties to file the motion for approval or a report on the status of negotiations by November 19, 2021.