A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a permit to expand the Hobet 21 mountaintop removal mine along the Boone-Lincoln county line.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a temporary retraining order requested by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and other groups.

Chambers blocked the permit to allow more time to consider evidence and legal arguments in the latest federal court lawsuit over mountaintop removal coal mining.

The judge set a hearing for Aug. 20 to consider whether his ruling should be extended to a longer preliminary injunction.

"These are serious and substantial questions and this court is required to consider that," Chambers said during a telephone hearing Monday afternoon.

Late last week, environmental group lawyers filed a new suit to try to block the Hobet expansion project, known as Hobet 22. They challenged a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued under the federal Clean Water Act, arguing that the corps did not properly consider the mine's impacts or give the public adequate opportunities to comment on the proposal.

Corps officials held a 30-day comment period on the mine in late 2006.

But key parts of the mine plan - especially details of how Hobet will mitigate the loss of streams harmed by the operation - were not available until a year later. A final version of that mitigation plan was not available until March 2008.

"Until the permit is issued, no one knows what is going on," said Joe Lovett, a lawyer for the citizen groups. "The public doesn't have a meaningful opportunity to raise concerns."

Corps attorney Ann Navaro told Chambers that the Hobet permit is different from other agency mining authorizations that have been challenged in court.

Hobet has not proposed traditional valley fills that typically bury streams at strip-mining operations.

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a permit to expand the Hobet 21 mountaintop removal mine along the Boone-Lincoln county line.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a temporary retraining order requested by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and other groups.

Chambers blocked the permit to allow more time to consider evidence and legal arguments in the latest federal court lawsuit over mountaintop removal coal mining.

The judge set a hearing for Aug. 20 to consider whether his ruling should be extended to a longer preliminary injunction.

"These are serious and substantial questions and this court is required to consider that," Chambers said during a telephone hearing Monday afternoon.

Late last week, environmental group lawyers filed a new suit to try to block the Hobet expansion project, known as Hobet 22. They challenged a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued under the federal Clean Water Act, arguing that the corps did not properly consider the mine's impacts or give the public adequate opportunities to comment on the proposal.

Corps officials held a 30-day comment period on the mine in late 2006.

But key parts of the mine plan - especially details of how Hobet will mitigate the loss of streams harmed by the operation - were not available until a year later. A final version of that mitigation plan was not available until March 2008.

"Until the permit is issued, no one knows what is going on," said Joe Lovett, a lawyer for the citizen groups. "The public doesn't have a meaningful opportunity to raise concerns."

Corps attorney Ann Navaro told Chambers that the Hobet permit is different from other agency mining authorizations that have been challenged in court.

Hobet has not proposed traditional valley fills that typically bury streams at strip-mining operations.

The mine would generate about 30.5 million cubic yards of waste rock and dirt. Most of it would be returned to the mined area, to restore it to its approximate original contour. About 3 million cubic yards of excess rock and dirt would be dumped into existing valley fills on adjacent permits.

But the Hobet 22 operation would still "permanently eliminate" more than 4.2 miles of streams, according to corps permit documents.

Company officials proposed to mitigate this damage with a plan to "reconstruct" and "create" streams once the mining is done. In a previous case, Chambers has found little evidence that such plans work.

Hobet lawyer Bob McLusky told Chambers that Hobet the mining complex involved is the largest United Mine Workers operation in West Virginia.

McLusky said that up to 300 UMW jobs could be at stake, but did not provide details as to how long mining could continue without the new permit.

"I can't tell you there will be people laid off in 10 days, but at some point in an injunction procedure, people will lose their jobs," McLusky said.

A UMW lawyer noted a formal appearance at Monday's hearing, but did not otherwise speak.

Corps permit records say that Hobet 22 would employ 75 workers, and mine 2.4 million tons of coal over a three-year period.

McLusky also told Chambers that "significant work" has already been done at the site, under a state mining permit issued in June 2007 and the corps permit issued Aug. 1.

"This site is already substantially disturbed," McLusky said. "You can't un-ring the bell here."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 348-1702.