No Coal-Fired Power Plant For SW GA

By Charles Edwards

Atlanta, GA – Environmentalists say a settlement on a coal-fired power plant being built in Texas is good news for Metro Atlanta's air and water quality. Included in the settlement announced today was New York-based LS Power's decision not to build a coal-fired power plant in Southwest Georgia.

The company claims the settlement was only part of its decision not to build the Longleaf plant. A LS executive told WABE demand for the plant has dropped since it proposed Longleaf in 2001. The same executive, Michael Vogt, also cited pending federal regulations.

The news comes after environmental groups spent years battling LS Power over Longleaf. One of those groups, Greenlaw, celebrated the decision. The plant would have been about 190 miles south of Atlanta in Blakely, Georgia. However, Greenlaw executive director Justine Thompson argues Longleaf's impact would have flowed to the north.

"Air pollution travels and we're all impacted by anything that goes into our atmosphere," said Thompson.

In addition to air pollution, Thompson argued the mercury pollution from the plant would have made it rivers and lakes and contaminated fish.

The decision on Longleaf was part of a settlement about Sandy Creek. That's the name of a coal-fired power plant LS has almost completed in Texas. The Sierra Club, one of the groups fighting Longleaf, also had concerns about Sandy Creek's expected mercury output. In a final agreement, the Sierra Club withdrew its challenge to Sandy Creek. In exchange, LS lowered projected mercury emissions at Sandy Creek, agreed to pay $400,000 for a solar project at in central Texas school and decided not to build Longleaf.