In a rare move, Wyoming officials on Tuesday rejected a permit to move ahead with the states first new coal mine in more than three decades.
The Ramaco Carbon mine won approval from state regulators earlier this year, but local landowners contested the decision. At a hearing on Tuesday, the Environmental Quality Council, a governor-appointed board with oversight over the states Department of Environmental Quality, ruled in a 4-to-1 vote that the Kentucky-based coal producer failed to address locals concerns, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.
The company is expected to resubmit its application, but itll likely face fierce opposition from already-infuriated homeowners like Jill Morrison, who heads a 44-year-old nonprofit that advocates for conserving our heritage and rural lifestyle.
They were arrogant, they were bullies, they didnt talk to any of the people who would be impacted, they trespassed on peoples private property, Morrison, director of Powder River Basin Resource Council, told HuffPost by phone on Wednesday. They just got dealt a pretty big blow.
