A coalition of environmental groups has sued the Bush administration in an attempt to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from changing a rule that will make it easier for mountaintop mining companies to dump their waste near rivers and streams. Judith Petersen of Kentucky Waterways Alliance said, “The notion that coal mining companies can dump their wastes in streams without degrading them is a fantasy that the Bush administration is now trying to write into law.” The new rules overhaul a twenty-five-year-old prohibition that has sparked legal and regulatory battles for years.