Work on Ark. power plant halted after appeal filed

LITTLE ROCK (AP)

An appeal of the state's decision

to grant an air permit for a

proposed $1.5 billion coal-fired

power plant in southwest Arkansas

brought the project to a halt

Monday, idling 400 workers.

The work stopped when Southwestern

Electric Power Co. learned of the

appeal, filed by the Sierra Club

and Audubon Arkansas with the

Arkansas Pollution Control and

Ecology Commission.

SWEPCO spokesman Peter Main of

Fayetteville said the automatic

shutdown was required as part of

the permit whenever an appeal is

filed. He said the company would

ask the commission to allow

construction to resume while a

decision is pending on the appeal.

Construction is expected to take

four years and create up to 1,400

jobs at the site, he said. A work

freeze would hurt the region

economically, he said. In addition,

the permit applies to emissions

once the plant is in operation and

does not pertain to the

construction work, Main said.

The construction of the project is

not adversely affecting air quality

and we believe it should be allowed,

he said.

The Arkansas Department of

Environmental Quality, which the

commission oversees, issued the

permit Nov. 5 after reviewing the

project for more than two years.

Department Director Teresa Marks

gave assurances then that the

permit would protect public health

and the environment.

Glen Hooks, a spokesman for the

Sierra Club, said Monday the appeal

asks the commission to stay the

permit and prohibit construction

while the commission considers

whether to overturn the department

s decision.

It all really boils down to how

much harm this plant will do to the

air quality and the area around the

plant, he said, adding that the

sprawling site is among habitat

that serves endangered and

threatened species.

Coal-fired power plants are among

the chief sources of greenhouse

gases, which are blamed for global

warming. The permit contains

emission limits for pollutants such

as particulates, sulfur dioxide,

volatile organic compounds, carbon

monoxide, nitrogen oxides and

mercury. It does not include limits

for carbon dioxide, which is not

subject to emission limits under

state or federal regulations.

SWEPCO won approval from the

Arkansas Public Service Commission

last year to build the 600-megawatt

John W. Turk Jr. plant, but

opponents appealed the PSC decision

to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Also, in a federal lawsuit brought

by property owners and hunting

clubs that use the woods, a federal

judge refused to stop the plant

project.

Hooks said the groups have not yet

gotten a hearing date on their

appeal.

Main noted that the commission has

a regular meeting scheduled Friday,

when SWEPCO could possibly pursue

its request to resume construction

if the state panel has not already

granted it.

SWEPCO, based in Shreveport, La.,

began site work while its air

permit application was pending.

Main said that, once the department

granted the permit, construction

began on the plant. SWEPCO is part

of Columbus, Ohio-based American

Electric Power Co.