U.S. District Judge Charles Haden said the proposed consent decree is too unclear to really resolve the issues in the case.

"I suggest there is less here than meets the eye, and there has not been a resolution and a settlement," Haden said. "We are a long way from that occurring."

Haden noted that since the settlement was filed Monday night, environmentalists have hailed it as a major victory while industry leaders have said mining practices really won’t change. "Most of the issues are not settled," he said.

And though the proposed consent decree purports to be a settlement, Haden said he is skeptical because so many parties say they aren’t legally bound by it. He listed those parties: Arch Coal subsidiary Hobet Mining, the United Mine Workers of America, land companies, industry associations, federal agencies and, until the end of a public comment period, the director of the state Division of Environmental Protection.

"So only the plaintiffs are bound to perform the consent decree at the present time," Haden said.

Attorneys said the agreement addressed most of the issues in the lawsuit, which environmentalists and coalfield residents filed last summer against state and federal regulators. The federal government settled its part of the case in December. According to the proposed consent decree, the DEP will write rules creating a formula for how much spoil from mountaintop removal mines must be stacked on the mountain and how much may be dumped in valley fills. The state also would write rules on how to reduce water pollution from valley fills and establish a homesteading program. Coal companies would be allowed to leave sites flat if they prepared the land for residential use. The attorneys also submitted an inch-thick set of "working papers" to show where they are on details of the rules.

But attorneys disagreed as to how the agreement affected Arch’s Spruce Fork mine or whether valley fills violate a law preventing mining within 100 feet of streams.

Since an injunction hearing in March, negotiations between lawyers have taken place behind closed doors, Haden said. He said he agreed with a Daily Mail editorial that encouraged more public input in the process.

Because the Legislature and state agencies will have to rewrite rules and laws, he said, it is time to open up the negotiations to the public.

"I think the public needs to be brought up to speed," he said.

Given the important public interest -- both economic and environmental -- Haden ordered that a comment period be extended from 30 days to 45 days. Comments should be delivered to the clerk’s office in the federal court building in Charleston. Haden pledged to read all comments received both by the DEP and by the federal court clerk.

Though the attorneys still have much work ahead of them, Haden praised their efforts so far and urged them to continue working quickly toward a more definite agreement.

"It’s a long way between a proposed settlement and the resolution of a global issue that requires regulations to be rewritten," Haden said, pointing to a 27-year-old lawsuit over school funding in West Virginia. "If that were true, the school funding (suit) would be settled," he said.

"Now, two decades later, that case is still being litigated."

Pat McGinley, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, agreed with Haden’s decision. "I think what the judge did was entirely appropriate to see that the public interest is protected," he said.

Cindy Rank, a member of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, said the public needs to understand how the proposed consent decree will affect them and mining in the state.

But Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said he was surprised and disappointed with Haden’s decision. "I’m disappointed that resolution of the issues hasn’t been developed any more than it’s been," he said. "It’s clearly a work in progress." Hamilton regrets the continuing uncertainty over the future of the permit for Arch Coal’s Spruce Fork mine, which remains under a court injunction. About 295 miners are now being laid off from an adjoining mine because reserves are exhausted.

Haden said his March injunction for the Spruce Fork mine is still in effect, and the DEP can’t process any revisions for the mining permit. Arch planned to revise its mining plan to conform with plaintiffs’ requests.

Rod Blackstone, a spokesman for Gov. Cecil Underwood, thought it wise to extend the comment period for the consent decree. "The public nature of this debate mandates that we get as much public input in this process as we move forward to improve the way mountaintop (removal) mining is done in this state."