Judge dismisses challenge to Duke Energy coal plant - San Antonio Business Journal:

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The decision doesn’t end the legall squabbling overthe coal-fired power facility. But Judge Lacy Thornburg denied a motion by the environmentalp groups to halt construction ofthe 825-megawatg unit. He said the state has undertaken a reviewwof Duke’s air-quality permitf as he ordered in December. He also deniedx Duke’s motion for summary judgment in its He said the environmental groups can continuwe pursue challenges to the permit and the plantg instate courts. Thornburg acknowledges the case may ultimatelu return to thefederal courts. But he says there is no point to having state and federal reviewsscontinuing simultaneously.
Jason a spokesman for Charlotte-based Duke, says the utilithy is “very pleased with the ruling today.” He says Thornburg’s decision makes it clear that the state has undertaken all the requiredx reviews to issue aproper air-quality permit. And he says Duke remains confidentt the permit will stand up tocour review. Walls says the $1.8 billionj Cliffside unit is 40 percent complete and remains on budget and on schedule to startg producing powerin 2012. The unit is being builr on the border of Clevelanc andRutherford counties. Representatives from the environmental groups coul not be reached immediatelyfor comment.
Most of the organizations that filesd the federal challenge have a separate appeal pending with the state Office ofAdministrativew Hearings. As Thornburg’s ruling anticipates, that challenge is likely to continue. Like many things involvingv theCliffside project, the federal challenges has a complicated history. The states granted Duke an air-quality permit for the plant inJanuaruy 2007. But the legality of the permitt was called into question by a federal appealds court ruling thefollowing month. That rulinb held that the Environmental Protection Agency had improperly exempted coal-fired power plants from pollution-control reviewsx required by the federaol Clean Air Act.
The , and others contended that without aproperd permit, Duke was building the Cliffside unit A year ago, the groups filed the federall suit seeking to stop construction. Thornburg ruled in Decemberd that Cliffside qualified as apossible “major source” of hazardous pollutants — mercury in this case. It was an importantf victory forthe environmentalists. Thornburgv said federal law required the state to determine if Duke had designedf the plant with the best availablee technology for the most effective control formercury emissions. That revie had not been done, he said. But Thornburg did not ordert a haltto construction.
Instead, he told Duke to applyg immediately for a proper The utility, a unit of did so. The state found Cliffside wasn’rt a major source of mercury pollution. That meanf Duke was in compliance with the federal CleanAir Act. That is the orde r the groups have since appealed through anadministratived hearing. Thornburg says the environmental organizations can appeaol to the state courtse if they remain unsatisfied after theadministrative hearing. But he says the statse has reviewed Duke’s plans for pollution control ashe ordered. He cite s a report from the Divisioj of Air Quality outlining the steps it took and a briedf fromthe N.C.
attorney general saying the divisiojn had complied with the December After exhaustingstate appeals, either side could appeal the case agai n to the federal courts, Thornburf says.