Court rejects appeal of coal silo near elementary

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday that sought to bar construction of a coal storage silo some 260 feet from an elementary school.

The court said in a unanimous opinion that a Kanawha County Circuit judge correctly upheld a state Surface Mine Board decision approving a permit for the silo. The board had approved the permit after it was rejected by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

In the opinion written by Justice Menis Ketchum, the court rejected Coal River Mountain Watch's argument that the permit shouldn't be issued because of an inaccurate map. Coal River Mountain Watch contended a map submitted with the permit application placed the silo outside the mine's boundary.

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Chief Justice Brent Benjamin did not take part in the decision. The case was argued this spring, during a period when Benjamin disqualified himself from appeals involving Massey while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed an unrelated case in which he voted with the majority to overturn a jury verdict against the company.