• NRDC lawsuit blocks mining scheme

After an arduous four-year legal battle, a federal judge sided with NRDC and blocked a set of permits for a massive limestone mining project in the fragile Florida Everglades. The polluting scheme would have bulldozed and dynamited 30 square miles of important habitat for rare wildlife, including the endangered woodstork, and jeopardized the drinking water of millions of Miami-Dade County residents. BioGems Defenders sent more than 100,000 messages to Bush administration officials protesting the mining plan and helped to raise awareness in Florida of the project's serious environmental risks.