Appeals court seeks response from environmentalists on Kensington appeal

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals indicated in late August that it may be willing to resurrect the waste disposal plan for the Kensington Gold Mine Project that a three-judge panel rejected in May.

The appeals court asked SEACC, Sierra Club and Lynn Canal Conservation, who are plaintiffs in the case, to respond by October to an appeal of the earlier ruling against mine developer Coeur D'Alene Mines Corp., which had proposed a plan for disposing of treated tailings plan that involved Lower Slate Lake.

The request seemed to indicate that the full appeals court is at least considering hearing the appeal, according to Coeur officials.

They said the court does not always want to hear responses to appeals for full hearings and often rejects such requests without asking for responses from plaintiffs.

SEACC officials, however, said the court's request should be construed as nothing more than an effort to get additional information.