Cases

Kensington Mine Project

In Brief:

Lower Slate Lake, AK

Photo by Irene Alexakos

In issuing a permit for a gold mine, the Army Corps of Engineers improperly applied new "fill" regulations under the Clean Water Act. As a result, millions of tons of mine waste would have been dumped into a pristine sub-alpine lake in Southeast Alaska, killing all fish and aquatic life in the lake.

In March 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal announced that the permit to allow the mine waste to be dumped in the lake was illegal and would be struck down. On October 29, 2007, the same court -- in this case, all 27 active judges -- refused to reconsider the decision made in March.

In a 6-3 decision on June 22, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Updated: July 1, 2009

Case #04814