Signal Peak Energy’s Bull Mountain Mine is currently under the microscope for the serious damage it’s causing to our environment – in particular our climate. Currently, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is conducting an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that fully considers the climate damage caused by the mine. Notably, OSM announced that it would take until May 2026 to conduct the analysis, which is a typical time period for a NEPA review.
Recently, NEPA was also changed to require that reviews be finished within two years, unless the agency consults with the applicant on the reason for the additional time. Based on the new law and OSM’s projected date to finish the NEPA review, Signal Peak brought suit in federal district court in Washington D.C. earlier this year to force the agency to rush its environmental analysis. Thankfully, the judge found in favor of OSM in mid-August and rejected Signal Peak’s arguments.
We suspect that this is not the end of the story for Signal Peak’s legal attempts to rush or entirely avoid the environmental review, but for now we can rest easy that OSM will be given adequate time to conduct a thorough environmental analysis.
This article was published in the October 2024 issue of Down To Earth.
