Supreme Court Requests Additional Briefs in Alaska Clean Water Act Case

The Supreme Court wants more information before deciding an Alaska case posing the question whether mine tailings may be lawfully dumped in a water body.

The Court issued an order Monday asking for supplemental briefs despite having heard argument in Couer Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Inc. on January 12.

The issue in the case is whether a Bush administration regulation authorizing disposal of mine tailings in "waters of the United States" violates the Clean Water Act, which would require the polluter to get a permit if the material is deemed to be a "pollutant," subject to the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or "fill" material subject to the wetlands permitting provision of the law.

The particular dispute involves a proposed gold mine north of Juneau. The Army Corps of Engineers granted permission to the mine operator to dump waste materials in Lower Slate Lake. The federal district court in Alaska upheld that decision, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed.