GOLIAD – Houston attorney Jim Blackburn is preparing to file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in reaction to the EPA's approval of an aquifer exemption for Uranium Energy Corp. to begin mining operations in Goliad County.

During Monday's meeting, the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District board of trustees discussed the pending lawsuit, which would be filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Blackburn filed a similar suit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Travis County after TCEQ granted UEC an aquifer exemption.

Blackburn, who has represented the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District, notified the Advance-Guard on Thursday that he wasn't sure who would be the plaintiffs in the suit. The GCGCD decided Monday to get more information about the lawsuit before supporting it.

"The citizens are raising a bit of money and I will (be) donating the rest of my time," Blackburn said in an email to the Advance-Guard. "I will know more early next week."

More on this story coming to mySouTex.com.