ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20013
No(s). l:19-cv-00130-SPW-TJC (D. Mont. Jan 25, 2021) (Watters, J.)

A district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction in a challenge to DOI's approval of a mine expansion in Montana. Conservation groups argued the Department's EIS failed to sufficiently consider the cumulative impacts of mining on local water resources, failed to consider a reasonable range of alternatives for the expansion, and failed to consider the impacts of further water withdrawals from the Yellowstone River on the endangered pallid sturgeon. The court found a preliminary injunction would not prevent the injuries presented by the groups—harm to the landscape in the expanded area, coal extraction, release of greenhouse gases, and additional water withdrawals—and thus determined that the groups had not met their burden to demonstrate the likelihood of irreparable harm. It therefore denied the groups' motion.