An environmental group near Dickinson will go to court to appeal zoning for a proposed coal mine to fuel a gasification plant near South Heart.

The Stark County Commission OK'd zoning for a 17-section coal mine last month, but the Badlands Area Resource Council is asking the Southwest District Court to decide whether the county failed to consult its own comprehensive land use plan and whether its approval was arbitrary.

"The commission apparently has no idea what this is going to be like,' said resource council chairwoman Linda Weiss, of Belfield. 'They based the decision on a one-line application and a flawed process and that is an insult to the people of Stark County.'

Great Northern Power Development plans to build a mine and a new technology gasification plant southwest of the small Stark County town to utilize vast coal reserves it purchased from Burlington Northern Railroad.

The zoning process took a couple of months, after the resource group gathered 600 signatures calling for an environmental review, causing the zoning board to ask the company to hold public meetings to explain the project.

The zoning was a small step in a multi-layered process that will involve many state and federal agencies before the company can proceed. It hopes to begin the $4.5 billion project in 2009 and be on line with its synthetic natural gas in 2012.

Great Northern Power Development plans to file a mine permit application with the Public Service Commission possibly as early as this week or next.

The gasification plant is still in design and company vice president Rich Voss said it will make air quality applications for the gas plant when the design is complete.

Voss did not return a phone call to his office seeking comment on the court appeal.