State Supreme Court upholds CU plant permit

The court denied Missouri Sierra Club’s appeal of the permit that was issued three years ago by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for the Southwest 2 coal-fired power plant. Sierra Club has alleged the permit violates air quality laws because the plant does not use required clean-air technology.

The organization first appealed the permit in 2005, leading to a Missouri Air Conservation Commission review. The commission upheld the permit, and Sierra Club filed a petition for judicial review of the permit in Greene County Circuit Court. That court affirmed the commission’s ruling, prompting the organization to file an appeal, claiming the decision failed to follow certain procedures and emission limitations. That appeal was denied in June.

“We had confidence in the permitting process and the review by the Department of Natural Resources,” CU Associate General Manager and General Counsel Andy Dalton said in a news release. “We are pleased that the courts at all levels have agreed as well.”

Sierra Club has 90 days to file a petition for review with the U.S. Supreme Court. A representative from the organization could not be reached.

The plant is on pace to meet its end-of-2010 completion date, according to the release. Voters approved a bond issue for the $697 million addition in June 2006.[[In-content Ad]]