Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 12, 2009 Decided June 22, 2009
Full case name	Coeur Alaska, Inc., Petitioner v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al.
Docket no.	07-984
Citations	557 U.S. 261 (more) 129 S. Ct. 2458; 174 L. Ed. 2d 193
Case history
Prior	Summary judgment granted, CV-05-00012-J-JK (D. Alaska, 2005); reversed, 486 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 2006); reversed and remanded.
Holding
The Army Corps of Engineers was the appropriate agency to permit the disposal of mine waste material into Lower Slate Lake.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Majority	Kennedy, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Breyer, Alito; Scalia (in part)
Concurrence	Breyer
Concurrence	Scalia (in part)
Dissent	Ginsburg, joined by Stevens, Souter
Laws applied
Clean Water Act

Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, 557 U.S. 261 (2009), is a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in favor of Coeur Alaska's permit to dump mine waste in a lake. The case addressed tailings from the Kensington mine, an underground mine located in Alaska. The gold mine had not operated since 1928, and Coeur Alaska obtained a permit in 2005 from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to dispose of up to 4.5 million tons of tailings in Lower Slate Lake, which is located in a National Forest.

The suit was filed by three environmental non-governmental organizations and brought before the United States District Court for the District of Alaska who found in favor of Coeur Alaska. The District Court's decision was overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals before being brought before the Supreme Court, who also found in favor of Coeur Alaska.

The ruling was praised by the National Mining Association for the economic benefit it provided. Environmental groups criticised the decision for the impact it would have on Lower Slate Lake, and the opportunity for its use as a precedent in the future. In March 2009 proposed legislation, the Clean Water Protection Act, was introduced in Congress to remove mining waste from the definition of "fill material".