The hearing is in the Federal Courthouse at 845 Fifth Ave., Huntington, WV on Wednesday, August 20.  It begins at 9:30 a.m., but please try to be in the courtroom by 9 a.m. You will need a photo ID to enter the building.  Judge Robert C. Chambers' courtroom is on the second floor of the Federal Courthouse. The judge's courtroom has been under renovation, so the hearing may be in another room. Security officers at courthouse entry points should be able to direct you to the right room.

The Charleston Gazette reported:

"A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a permit to expand the Hobet 21 mountaintop removal mine along the Boone-Lincoln county line.

"U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a temporary retraining order requested by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and other groups.

"Chambers blocked the permit to allow more time to consider evidence and legal arguments in the latest federal court lawsuit over mountaintop removal coal mining.

"The judge set a hearing for Aug. 20 to consider whether his ruling should be extended to a longer preliminary injunction...

"(US Army) Corps (Of Engineers) permit records say that Hobet 22 would employ 75 workers, and mine 2.4 million tons of coal over a three-year period."

Read more here, here, and here.

The currently-blocked permit would, if granted, allow the company to mine in a selenium hotspot and mine through more than 20,000 feet of stream in the headwaters of Berry Branch in Lincoln County. This hearing is part of our larger mountaintop removal lawsuit. Oral arguments in that case are set for Sept. 23 before the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.