Jul 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Michael Sluss The Roanoke Times, Va.

Opponents of a new coal-fired power plant in Wise County plan to take their fight to the courts after failing to persuade state regulators to block construction of the project.

A coalition of environmental groups said during a news conference Monday that they will file legal challenges to regulatory rulings allowing Dominion Virginia Power to build a 585-megawatt plant on a 1,700-acre site near St. Paul.

The utility company began construction of the $1.8 billion plant last week, just five days after receiving a permit from the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board.

"This case has been going on for a while in terms of the administrative and regulatory proceedings, but the legal fight begins now," said Cale Jaffe, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Opponents have argued that the plant will encourage destructive mining practices and contribute to pollution. But Dominion has cleared two major regulatory hurdles, getting needed approvals from the State Corporation Commission and the Air Pollution Control Board.

Opponents said they intend to challenge the legality of the air pollution permits, largely because they do not require Dominion to curb carbon dioxide emissions. A state judge in Georgia last week invalidated an air pollution permit for a planned coal-fired plant in that state because the permit established no carbon dioxide limits.

The Georgia judge relied on a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows carbon dioxide to be regulated as a pollutant. But the federal government has yet to issue such regulations.

Jaffe said a lawsuit challenging the air pollution permits will be filed in a circuit court, but he has not determined which jurisdiction. Opponents also plan to go to the Virginia Supreme Court to appeal the SCC's decision to grant Dominion a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the plant.

Dominion said any effort to slow construction of the plant would be "an effort to delay reliable energy and cleaner air for Virginia."

The Wise County plant is scheduled to open in 2012. Dominion officials have said the plant will be designed so that equipment to capture carbon dioxide can be added when the technology becomes available.