A state court judge in Virginia has declared invalid one of the state permits allowing Dominion Virginia Power to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County, Va., throwing up a new roadblock for the project, according to a short report in The Washington Post.
The Southern Environmental Law Center is calling the decision “a momentous victory for clean energy advocates” and described the ruling’s details this way:
The Clean Air Act requires the maximum achievable controls on mercury and other hazardous emissions from coal-burning plants. Virginia Circuit Court Judge Margaret P. Spencer agreed with SELC and a coalition of environmental groups that an “escape hatch” in the hazardous emissions permit for the Dominion plant is unlawful and would allow the company to exceed the standard. Judge Spencer ruled that the limit on mercury emissions—pollution that can cause severe neurological deficits in fetuses, infants and young children—“must be set ‘irrespective of cost or achievability’” and must be locked in before construction begins.A copy of the ruling is posted here, and there’s more on this story here, here and here. Recall that the Sierra Club had already claimed victory in defeating 100 coal-fired power plant proposals across the country
Blogs @ The Charleston Gazette -
That is from a Charleston WVA paper. Lots of stuff about the coal industry and things of interest.
After a little more reading dominion said-
"Dominion is pleased that today's decision upholds virtually all of the conditions in both air permits, which may be the most stringent in the country," the utility said in a written statement. "We expect the remaining issue regarding mercury emissions will be resolved in a manner that will allow the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center to be completed on schedule"
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