Another precedent was set on Friday, August 23rd in the long running legal challenge to mountaintop mining. In his decision, U.S. District Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell of Louisville ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers does not have “to consider the cumulative effects of mining operations as a whole” when issuing a permit. Mr. Russell confirmed the scope of environmental and health impacts that the Corps must consider is limited to “the effects of pollutants that coal operators are authorized to discharge into waterways.” The 404 USACE permit in question allows for the filling of streams with mining refuse, often coupled with remediation work on other impaired streams throughout the state. This ruling paves the way for mining to begin on one of the few 404 USACE permits to be approved in the past few years.