The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection violated the state's Freedom of Information Act when it denied a law firm's request for water pollution data, a Kanawha County judge ruled.
Circuit Judge Charles King ordered the DEP this week to provide the data to Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
The law firm sued the DEP after the agency denied its FOIA request in 2013 for the most recent quarterly data showing water pollution levels at coal mines statewide. Mine operators are required to file the data with the DEP to disclose pollution levels under state and federal clean water laws. Continue>>>
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