If there was any doubt left in your mind that our country is run by and for the corporations, SCOTUS’s ruling yesterday in Coeur Alaska Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, should clear that remaining doubt.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Clean Water Act does not prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from allowing mining waste to be dumped into rivers, streams and other waters.
In a 6-to-3 decision that drew fierce criticism from environmentalists, the court said the Corps of Engineers had the authority to grant Coeur Alaska Inc., a gold mining company, permission to dump the waste known as slurry into Lower Slate Lake, north of Juneau.
“We conclude that the corps was the appropriate agency to issue the permit and that the permit is lawful,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.
The corps permit, issued in 2005, said that 4.5 million tons of waste from the Kensington mine could be dumped into the lake even though it would obliterate life in its waters. The corps found that disposing of it there was less environmentally damaging than other options.
Forget life. Forget safekeeping the environment. Whatever the corporations want to do is just fine and dandy.
But the bigger question is why in the world do these 6 justices think industrial businesses can take an end run around the EPA by using the Army Corps of Engineers? That boggles the mind.
