A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Trump administration to halt a coal mining lease near Bryce Canyon National Park.
Alton Coal Development Co. is seeking to increase its coal output eightfold under its recent federal lease of 3,581 acres about 10 miles west of Bryce Canyon. This lease contains up 40 million tons of recoverable coal adjacent to Alton’s existing Coal Hollow strip mine.
But the lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and several other groups, asserts federal officials violated environmental regulations by approving the lease without considering the impact of the eventual burning of the coal itself.