Business groups fighting coal plant ruling

Georgia business groups are appealing a judge's decision to halt the construction of a power plant, warning that the ruling could stall other energy plants and hamper economic development throughout the state.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce warned Wednesday that the decision could have far-reaching implications, driving up energy costs and preventing the construction of natural gas, oil and biofuel plants across the state.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore's ruling relied on the Supreme Court's decision last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant, and environmental activists said it set a precedent.

In the ruling, Moore contended that federal air pollution laws required permits for all pollutants that could be regulated under the federal Clean Air Act - including carbon dioxide. The gas, which is blamed for global warming, is not currently regulated.

The decision halted the construction of the $2 billion Longleaf Energy Plant, which would become Georgia's first new coal-fired plant in more than 20 years.

Environmental groups praised the decision, saying it will help them stave off 30 other coal plants now in active litigation. At the very least, they said, it's a sign that energy companies will face more challenging legal hurdles over coal-fired power projects.

The plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. It would power more than a half-million homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Each year it would emit as much as 9 million tons of carbon dioxide, worrying critics who say it could cause health problems in a county that already suffers above-average air pollution.

But the chamber contends the ruling went too far, sidestepping the efforts of federal lawmakers and regulators debating whether to regulate the gas.

The chamber claims that the ruling could delay the construction of any "sizable" new building that relies on natural gas for heat - from office buildings to malls.

"It would be devastating," said George Israel, the chamber's chief executive. "It would cause delays in almost everything, from hospital expansions to school auditoriums."

Israel told the Albany Herald newspaper:

“We’re shocked at the decision.”

“If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will not only hinder the ability to supply power to the state, it will have a major negative impact on future economic development in Georgia.”

Israel, local Albany officials and a lawyer for LS Power met with the newspaper on Tuesday to lay out their opposition to the ruling.

The court will decide by Aug. 29 whether to hear the appeal. The Sierra Club, which filed the lawsuit, said the ruling does not affect alternative energy projects.

"Georgia needs to be on the front of the clean energy economy," said Patty Durand, the group's president. "It's too bad the Georgia chamber chooses not to be a leader of a change that's inevitable."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the battle over the Longleaf Power Station.

(With The Associated Press)

Judge's ruling halts planned power station (Updated)

In a landmark ruling with national implications, The Fulton County Superior Court today reversed a previous administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit allowing the construction of a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

"We are in a moment of elation," said Justine Thompson a lawyer for Greenlaw, who represent a coalition of local residents and environmental groups that are fighting the plant's construction.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore reversed a previous decision by Atlanta Administrative Law Judge Judge Stephanie Howells, giving the go-ahead for the project.

Wyatt said in her ruling regarding the plant's projected carbon dioxide emissions:

"Faced with the ruling in Massachusetts that CO2 is an “air pollutant” under the Act, Respondents are forced to argue that CO2 is still not a “pollutant subject to regulation under the Act.” Respondents’ position is untenable. Putting aside the argument that any substance that falls within the statutory definition of “air pollutant may be “subject to” regulation under the Act, there is no question that CO2 is “subject to regulation under the Act."

Howells, in an 108-page decision reached on January 11th, had ruled affirming the EPD decision to issue an air quality permit:

"...the weight of the evidence demonstrates that limits imposed by EPD are reasonable and supported by law.”

The Houston-based Dynegy Company wants to build the 1200-megawatt Longleaf power plant on the Chattahoochee River in Early County.

The opponents last year filed an appeal to stop the construction. The say the plant would emit unchecked levels of carbon dioxide, and unacceptable amounts of other pollutants.

Proponents say the 1.2-billion dollar project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

The plant would be the first such facility to be built in Georgia in the last 20-years.

Environmentalists said the decision marks the first time that a judge has applied a U.S. Supreme Court finding that carbon dioxide is a pollutant to emissions from an industrial source.

The court's April 2007 decision said the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming.

"We will be taking this decision and making the same arguments to push for an end to conventional coal," said Bruce Nilles, who oversees the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.

The plant's developers, LS Power and Dynegy Inc., said they planned to appeal.

"We are surprised with Judge Moore's ruling against us in every respect," said Mike Vogt, a spokesman for the energy plant. He also downplayed the ruling's impact on other pending lawsuits.

"I don't know what type of legal precedent a superior court judge in one state has over judges in other states," he said.

At a June 3 hearing, lawyers representing state regulators and plant developers said there was no federal standard yet to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and warned that a ruling to regulate the gas would "short-circuit" legislators' work to develop new rules.

The plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. It would power more than a half-million homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Each year it would emit as much as 9 million tons of carbon dioxide, worrying critics who say it could cause health problems in a county that already suffers above-average air pollution.

The decision will force state regulators to reconsider coal-fired power plants and could push state regulators toward cleaner and more efficient energy, said Patti Durand, director of the Sierra Club's Georgia chapter.

"It's a scandal that energy companies are still trying to build coal plants even though they cause global warming," she said. "I can't be more thrilled. It's a huge ruling. This is a new day in the United States, and I'm thrilled."

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Longleaf power station.

(With The Associated Press)

Judge Approves Coal-Fired Power Plant

Click on the image to read a larger version of the conclusion page of Howells' decision. The full ruling is here. (.pdf download).

Atlanta Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Howells, in an 108-page decision, has ruled affirming the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) decision to issue an air quality permit to Longleaf Energy Station, in a statement released Friday morning.

Howells noted in her conclusion:

"...the weight of the evidence demonstrates that limits imposed by EPD are reasonable and supported by law.”

The 1200 - megawatt facility, to be built on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Early Co., would be the first coal-fired plant to be built in Georgia in the last 20-years.

GreenLaw, who is representing Friends of the Chattahoochee and the Sierra Club, filed suit in June of 2007 challenging the permit for the 1200 megawatt power plant. The lawsuit charged that the builders, Houston-based Dynegy Corporation, failed to include limitations for carbon dioxide and sulphur emissions. Justine Thompson, GreenLaw's Executive Director:

“We are very disappointed by the court’s ruling and we will certainly file an appeal.”

“This is the first coal-fired power permit to be approved in Georgia in over 20 years but with this court’s ruling, I fear it will not be the last. As neighboring states stand up against coal plants, Georgia’s acquiescence will make us a target for new coal-fired power plant proposals. Building this plant as currently designed will lock this state into dirty air for the life of the plant, at least 50 or more years.”

Greenlaw attorneys say they will appeal to the state Superior Court by February.

Speaking in a conference call set up by opponents in the wake of the decision, Bobby Mclendon, president of Friends of the Chattahoochee expressed his disappointment:

"I've got a medical doctor on our board of directors down hear, and he told me – I said, Sammy, what is the worst pollutant that will be emitted by this plant? – this was five years ago – and he said, 'particulate matter, Bobby' he said, 'it'll increase asthmatic attacks and asthma and things,' and he said, 'we just don't need any of it,' so knowing all this about the fallout from it, I was just extremely disappointed in the decision."

But in a separate interview, Billy Fleming, publisher of the Early County News and a long-time proponent of the plant, said he was unsurprised by Howells decision:

"Of course, we're excited as a community about the decision, and it's actually the decision we were anticipating all along. Dave, I've spent five years studying every aspect of coal-fired power-plants, global warming, particulate matter, mercury and everything, and any of us who have paid attention are very comfortable with the permits of this power plant."

Click here for more GPB News coverage and features on the issues at stake at the Longleaf Power Station.

Sierra Club threatened over coal plant ruling

The Sierra Club's Atlanta chapter recently got a threatening phone call, likely related to their part in a fight against a planned coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

Chapter Director Patty Durand declined to comment on details of a police investigation, but acknowledged that a police report said that a man with a southern accent, possibly in his 30's placed a call on July 4th, saying:

"We need those jobs. You (expletive) communists have screwed us for the last time. You better have eyes in the back of your head because the bullets are coming."

On June 30th, a Fulton County Superior Court reversed an earlier administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit that had okayed the $1.2 billion project in Early County.

A group of area residents and environmentalists, including the Sierra Club who are fighting the project, say the plant will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, harmful amounts of dust, and other pollutants.

Proponents say the project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the battle over the LS Power Longleaf Power Station.

Appeal on coal plant ruling

Georgia business groups are appealing a judge's decision to halt the construction of a coal-fired power plant. They say the ruling could stall other energy plants and hamper economic development throughout the state. A Fulton County judge made her ruling based on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant. The judge’s decision halted the construction of the Longleaf Energy Plant in Early County in southwest Georgia.

Judge Delays Coal-Fired Power Plant Decision

An Atlanta judge has delayed a crucial ruling about a permit for a coal-fired power station. Administrative Judge Stephanie Howells says the delay is due to the complexity of the case.

Judge Howells must decide whether to allow the Environmental Protections Division to issue a permit for the Longleaf power station in Early Co.

In June, lawyers for Friends of the Chattahoochee and the Sierra Club filed suit challenging the permit for the 1200 megawatt power plant.

The suit charged that the builders, Houston-based Dynegy Corporation, failed to include limitations for carbon dioxide and sulphur emissions.

Judge Howells says she will deliver her ruling by January 11.

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Firm Says Proposed Power Plant Still On Track

The Houston-based Dynegy Corporation said on Friday it was walking away from the joint venture with New York's LS Power to construct a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

Dynegy says they took the decision due to tight credit markets and economic uncertainty.

However, LS Power, who’ll own 100-percent of the proposed $2 billion facility, say they're going ahead with the project, set along the Chattahoochee River.

Project Manager Mike Vogt:

"We're going to push forward with the development of this plant, and ultimately customers -- hopefully in Georgia -- will decide that it does have a place and will decide that it does have a place."

Vogt says his company is also appealing a court decision from late last year that halted the project over air pollution concerns:

"The briefings will be finished in January 2009, and the court of appeals will make their decision sometime before June of 2009."

Environmentalists say the facilities' smokestacks will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, sulfur, and coal dust.

Supporters of the project say it’ll bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax-revenue to Early County – one of the state's poorest.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the proposed Longleaf Power plant.

Greens Laud Power Co. Pullout From Coal Power Station

Houston-based Dynegy Corporation is dropping its support for a controversial coal-fired power plant in Southwest Georgia.

Dynegy officials say they're pulling out of the Longleaf power station project near Blakeley because of the poor economy and the possibility of tighter federal regulations.

Environmental groups are thrilled. The project ground to a halt last year amid a flurry of lawsuits over pollution controls.

Jennette Gayer of Environment Georgia says the project doesn't stand a chance now that one of its two backers has pulled out:

"It's very exciting that Dynegy cancelled their plans to build a large coal plant in early county. It's clear that Georgia has the technology, know how to provide energy without a polluting coal plant, so it's very nice to see an energy company reacting to that reality."

Officials for the company that owns the project remain optimistic, however.

New Jersey-based LS Power hopes an appeal of the court ruling this month will get the project restarted by this summer.

Click here for ongoing GPB News coverage of this story.

Builders still banking on SW Georgia power plant

LS Power, the company seeking to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia, says it will appeal a recent court ruling that halted construction.

Mike Vogt, project director with LS Power told the Dothan Eagle newspaper,

“We’re 100 percent committed to staying the course to begin construction.”

In a landmark ruling on June 30, the Fulton County Superior Court reversed an earlier administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit that had okayed the $1.2 billion project in Early County.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore reversed a previous decision by Atlanta Administrative Law Judge Judge Stephanie Howells, giving the go-ahead for the project.

LS Power will appeal the decision to the Georgia Court of Appeals in August.

Proponents say the project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

A group of area residents and environmentalists fighting the project say the plant will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, harmful amounts of dust, and other pollutants.

The Longleaf Power Plant would be the first such facility to be built in Georgia in the last two decades.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the issues at stake in the case.

Judge's ruling limits Early Co. power-plant opponents

Bulletin board in City Hall at Early Co. seat, Blakely, with flyer
expressing support for power-plant builders, LS Power.
(Photo: Dave Bender)

Southwest Georgia groups fighting a power-plant in Early County saw their legal appeal partially stymied in an Atlanta courtroom on Friday.

The judge okayed the plaintiffs' lawsuit against the Longleaf coal-fired power station, but rejected two of their key contentions:

• That the State Environmental Division imposed no limits on carbon dioxide emissions
  
• That EPA's existing regulations on dust emissions aren't strict enough, and would endanger area residents.

Michael Vogt, director of project development at LS Power, says the judge was right to reject those charges:

"We're complying with the current regulations related to carbon dioxide. Whether they're going to have standards that we're going to have to meet in the future; we'll meet them whenever they come into effect, but currently, there are none for a facility such as ours.

"We're complying with all of the rules and regulations that are in place to do exactly what they're concerned about: to protect their health and the environment that's around them."

Hearings on the 17-counts against the project will continue next month. Vogt expects a decision on the issues in mid-November.

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South GA power station backer weighing pullout

One of the backers of a controversial plan to build a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia says a tight credit market is forcing his company to reassess their investment.

The Houston-based Dynegy Corporation says an uncertain economy is behind their decision to reconsider their backing of LS Power. It wants to build a 1,200 megawatt power station along the Chattahoochee River in Blakely.

Dynegy spokesman David Byford:

“Last week we announced a reevaluation of our participation in future activities or projects that are outside of Dynegy’s operational footprint.”

That footprint includes six energy projects, including the Longleaf plant that Dynegy is reconsidering, nationwide.

Blakeley Mayor Ric Hall says if Dynegy drop’s their support, it would hit the rural town hard:

“…well, if they pull out, certainly it would have a devastating impact on job potential… it’s been quite a number of years now in which we have held out hope that possibly they would be able to build a plant here because of the impact that it could have economically on our community.”

Local officials say the plant would create about a thousand construction jobs, more than 100 full-time positions, and add millions of tax-revenue dollars to Early County. The county is one of the poorest in the state and is banking on the jobs.

The power plant has been talked about for the past seven years.

But plans came to a crawl earlier this year, when an Atlanta judge accepted an appeal by environmentalists against the facility. They claim high carbon dioxide, sulfur and particulate pollution levels aren’t worth the economic benefits.

Billy Fleming is the publisher of the Blakeley-based Early County News. Fleming’s a staunch supporter of the power plant, and says he wasn’t surprised by Dynegy’s reevaluation:

“With what’s going on the financial world today, we got a landscape out there today nobody ever dreamed they’d see, and everybody’s having to back up and rethink and reevaluate their positions on a lot of things. And I have no doubt that the difficulty of permitting and constructing a coal-fired plant with all the global-warming alarmists’ stuff going on is in the back of their heads as well.”

Mayor Hall agrees, and says that the environmental lawsuit hurt the plant:

“..and then of course the tremendous expense that has been associated with the legal battle that they’ve had to go through – particularly in the last three years.”

LS Power says they’re going ahead with the project, despite Dynegy’s pending decision. Officials with the New-Jersey-based firm say they’ve filed another appeal against the court ruling – one that they hope to see adjucated by the summer of 2009.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

Sierra Club gets menacing call over coal plant ruling

The Atlanta chapter of the Sierra Club recently received a threatening call, presumably over their fight against a planned coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

On June 30th, a Fulton County Superior Court reversed an earlier administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit that had okayed the $1.2 billion project in Early County.

A police report says a white man with a southern accent, possibly in his 30's placed the call on July 4th:

"We need those jobs. You (expletive) communists have screwed us for the last time. You better have eyes in the back of your head because the bullets are coming."

A group of area residents and environmentalists, including the Sierra Club who are fighting the project, say the plant will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, harmful amounts of dust, and other pollutants.

Proponents say the project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

Local Sierra Club Director Patty Durand declined to comment on the incident when she was contacted on Friday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the battle over the LS Power Longleaf Power Station.

Environmentalists urge gardeners to adjust to global warming

The National Wildlife Federation, Environment Georgia and the Garden Club of Georgia have released "The Gardener's Guide to Global Warming."

The report is based on evidence showing many of Georgia’s common plants won't be so common in the next century, if climate change continues at its current pace.

Georgia's climate is becoming more like that of Florida, and, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, wildfires, droughts, and intense hurricanes will become more common nationwide.

The guide recommends that gardeners plan for these trends. For example, the federation's Sue Sturges says, Georgia will need a new state tree to replace the live oak.

"If I was a developer building a new development, I would not be planting the oaks right now," Sturges says. "I'd be choosing other trees in their place because the oaks are going to die out. It’s inevitable."

Sturges says magnolias will do well in Georgia's changing climate. She also recommends that the loblolly pines now burning in southeastern Georgia wildfires be replaced by hardier longleaf pines.

Lawsuit filed vs. coal-fired plant

The first coal-fired power plant to be built in Georgia in two decades faces a lawsuit. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the Sierra Club, GreenLaw, and Friends of the Chattahoochee are teaming up in the suit. They claim mercury emissions from the Longleaf Energy Station would be built near Columbus would violate the Clean Air Act.

Coal-fired power plant opponents continue fight

Environmental groups fighting a planned coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia have taken their fight to the Superior Court. The Friends of the Chattahoochee and the Sierra Club of Georgia are appealing a recent administrative court ruling giving the go-ahead for the 1.2 billion dollar facility.

In January, an Atlanta administrative court judge okay'd a contested permit to the Dynegy company construct the 1,200 megawatt Longleaf powerplant.

The plant, to be built on the banks of the Chattahoochee, in Early County, would be the first such facility in Georgia in 20 years.

Attorneys representing opponents to the plant say, despite the EPD permit, the facility will emit unhealthy amounts of carbon dioxide and coal dust.

Supporters of the project says the claims are exaggerated, and that the project would provide hundreds of needed jobs for the economically ailing area.

A hearing on the issue is expected within about 90 days.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this report.