Galax, Virginia (Platts)--3Jan2008
Opponents of Southwestern Electric Power's proposed 600-MW John W. Turk
Jr. coal-fired power plant are set to go to the Arkansas Court of Appeals over
the state Public Service Commission's approval of a construction certificate
for the project in October, representatives said.
The PSC on December 31 denied plant opponents' request for a rehearing on
the certificate for the Hempstead County plant. It had granted the certificate
of environmental compatibility and public need for the project after a number
of days of hearings in October.
"I'm very confident that there will be an appeal to the state Court of
Appeals," Little Rock attorney Chuck Nestrud said. The opponents -- called
intervenors in the PSC case -- have 30 days from the December 31 order to file
the appeal.
Nestrud is with one of the two law firms representing the intervenors:
Hempstead County Hunting Club, Po-Boy Land, Cypress Bayou, Yellow Creek,
Schultz Family Management and Emon Mahoney.
The intervenors contend Swepco "knowingly filed an incomplete application
which included no alternative analysis, ignored many potential environmental
impacts of the project, and under-reported other potential environmental
impacts." They want to protect what they say are virgin forests near the
proposed plant site.
Swepco expected the opponents to appeal the PSC decision in court,
spokesman Scott McCloud said. But "we're confident that the commission's
decision will be upheld," he said. "It was one of the most lengthy hearings
[in October] in Arkansas [PSC licensing] history," he said. "Every possible
angle was discussed and re-discussed."
Swepco, an American Electric Power subsidiary, expects to gain an
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality air permit in the first quarter
of 2008, McCloud said. But the schedule for the plant coming online has
changed to late 2011 or early 2012 rather than by June 2011, he said.
"We will still seek all the required permits and still hope to see
construction in the spring of 2008," he said.
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