The justices also protected the owners of aging power plants that might be forced to upgrade their facilities to protect wildlife. In a 6-3 ruling, the court agreed with the Bush administration that the Environmental Protection Agency could weigh costs of the upgrades in deciding whether a change was needed.
In another ruling, the court shielded some corporations from paying to clean up a contaminated site.
Monday's case centered on plans to reopen a gold mine 45 miles north of Juneau that has been closed since 1928. The mine operators plan to employ a technique that over the life of the mine would dump some 4.5 million tons of sandy crushed rock -- mixed with water and laced with aluminum, copper, lead and mercury -- into a small but deep mountain lake.
In allowing those plans to move forward, the court cited ambiguities in the Clean Water Act and an informal Bush administration memo that dictated how to interpret them. "We accord deference to the agencies' reasonable decision," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for a majority that included Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Stephen G. Breyer and Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Environmentalists said the Obama administration could still revoke the mine's dumping permit or issue new rules that redefine how to classify "fill" under the law. EPA officials' only response to Monday's decision was to issue a statement saying they were reviewing the ruling "and its potential implications regarding EPA's authority to ensure effective environmental protection under the Clean Water Act."
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jtankersley@latimes.com
david.savage@latimes.com
