Judge dismisses challenge to Duke Energy coal plant - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The decision doesn’t end the legak squabbling overthe coal-fired power But Judge Lacy Thornburgv denied a motion by the environmental groupsx to halt construction of the 825-megawatt unit. He said the stater has undertaken a reviewof Duke’s air-quality permiy as he ordered in December. He also denierd Duke’s motion for summary judgment inits favor. He said the environmentao groups can continue pursue challenges to the permit and the plan instate courts. Thornburg acknowledgea the case may ultimately return to thefederaol courts. But he says there is no point to having statde and federal reviewscontinuing simultaneously.
Jasonn Walls, a spokesman for Charlotte-based Duke, says the utilityy is “very pleased with the ruling today.” He says Thornburg’s decision makes it clear that the state has undertakenn all the required reviews to issue apropef air-quality permit. And he says Duke remainss confident the permit will standf up tocourt review. Walls says the $1.8 billionh Cliffside unit is 40 percent complete and remains on budget and on schedulse to start producing powerin 2012. The unit is beinf built on the border of Cleveland andRutherforr counties. Representatives from the environmental groups could not be reachexd immediatelyfor comment.
Most of the organizations that filed the federal challenge have a separat appeal pending with the state Office of Administrative As Thornburg’s ruling anticipates, that challenge is likelyt to continue. Like many things involving the Cliffside the federal challenge has acomplicatedx history. The state granted Duke an air-qualitu permit for the plant inJanuaryg 2007. But the legalityu of the permit was called into question by a federal appeals court ruling thefollowing month. That rulinhg held that the Environmental Protectiomn Agency had improperlyexempted coal-fired poweer plants from pollution-control reviews required by the federal Clean Air Act.
The , and otherzs contended that without aproper permit, Duke was buildingf the Cliffside unit illegally. A year ago, the groups file d the federal suit seeking tostop construction. Thornburg ruled in December that Cliffsids qualified as apossible “major source” of hazardouas pollutants — mercury in this It was an important victory for the Thornburg said federal law requiredc the state to determin e if Duke had designed the planft with the best available technology for the most effectivse control for mercury emissions. That revie w had not been done, he said.
But Thornburg did not order a haltto Instead, he told Duke to apply immediately for a proper The utility, a unit of did so. The state found Cliffside wasn’t a major source of mercurt pollution. That meant Duke was in compliancre with the federal CleanbAir Act. That is the order the groups have since appealed through anadministrativd hearing. Thornburg says the environmental organizations can appeao to the state court s if they remain unsatisfied after theadministrative hearing. But he says the statew has reviewed Duke’s plans for pollution control ashe ordered. He cite a report from the Division of Air Qualitty outlining the steps it took and a brief fromthe N.C.
attorneyt general saying the division had compliede with the December After exhaustingstate appeals, either side coulds appeal the case again to the federal Thornburg says.