Approval for Idaho phosphate mine reversed after judge rules US didn’t assess prairie bird impact

UNDATED (AP)- A federal judge has yanked the U.S. government’s approval for a phosphate mining project in southeastern Idaho. The decision comes five months after the judge ruled the U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated environmental laws when it approved the Caldwell Canyon Mine in 2019. Those include a failure to consider the indirect impact of processing ore at a nearby plant and the impact on sage grouse. The mine has been proposed by P4 Production, a subsidiary of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG. Bayer says vacating the approval was excessive and it is considering its next steps.