INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Three environmental groups have appealed an Indiana administrative judge's recent ruling on a permit allowing Peabody Energy to operate a surface coal mine that's the largest such mine east of the Mississippi River.

The Sierra Club, the Hoosier Environmental Council and the Environmental Law & Policy Center filed their appeal Friday in Sullivan County Superior Court. It contends the administrative judge erred in portions of her September decision on the groups' challenge to Peabody Energy's general permit for its Bear Run mine in Sullivan County.
 
The judge found that Indiana failed to fully assess the impact of coal waste runoff on local waterways when it issued that permit. But she ruled against the groups' other claims, including that Indiana should have approved a more comprehensive individual permit for the mine.