Appeals court says judge erred in denying permits mining

The Associated Press --

ATLANTA --

A federal appeals court has overturned a U.S. District Court ruling in Florida that invalidated permits for limestone mining on 5,400 acres along a strip of former wetlands west of Miami known as the "Lake Belt."

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, said Friday that U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler seemed to have concluded that "mining in the Lake Belt is a bad thing" without proper consideration to federal laws governing the permit process by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The judges sent the case back to Hoeveler, who on July 13 ordered three companies to stop work at certain northwest Miami-Dade County quarries and created a protective zone around a well field that is a source of drinking water for more than 1 million people in South Florida.

The opinion by Circuit Judge Joel F. Dubina and U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler of Alabama offered no opinion on whether the Corps had complied with the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act in granting the permits. It said that question must be answered by Hoeveler, "applying the proper standard of review."

Senior Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch of the 11th Circuit dissented. She wrote that she agreed with much of the majority's ruling, but found that the Corps had improperly granted the permits by relying on a report by a consultant hired by the mining industry.

The area known as the Lake Belt is home to four of Florida's largest mines, supplying about half of the state's cement. There has been mining in the 57,500-acre region since the 1950s, creating thousands of acres of lakes.

The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and National Parks Conservation Association filed a lawsuit in 2002, challenging the validity of nine 10-year permits issued by the Corps of Engineers. Hoeveler ruled in 2006 that the permits were invalid.