Duke Energy to appeal ruling on study of Cliffside emissions - Triangle Business Journal:

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But the company says it will complyg with the court order until its appeal canbe heard. The ruling Tuesdaty by U.S. District Court Judge Lacy Thornburg is an importanf victory for environmental groups that oppose the expansiomnat Duke’s Cliffside plant on the border of Rutherford and Cleveland counties. But it is only a partiakl victory. The order does not halt construction ofthe coal-fired as opponents had Still, they welcome the ruling. “The court confirmefd that buildinga coal-fired plant withouty proper controls for mercury and dozenss of other hazardous air pollutants is wholly unacceptable,” says John attorney for the .
“This decision abouty Duke’s North Carolina power plant should have people arounsd the country breathing a big sighof relief.” The rulintg says Duke must perform a “maximum achievable control technology” assessmenf of its mercury emissions from the unit, whicyh is under construction. That is a requirement of federal law designedc to ensure new power plants use the best availablee controls forspecified pollutants.
The a unit of Charlotte-based (NYSE:DUK), got an air-qualityu permit from the state in January without that kind of The Environmental Protection Agency had for some time said plant s such as Cliffside did not have to perform such reviews for astater permit. In February, the federal courts struck down the EPA rulinf as contrary tothe law’s intent. Duke had receives its air permit justweeks before. Environmental groupse warned that Duke was improperly proceedinggwith construction.
In July, the led a team of environmental groups thatchallenged Duke’s Duke has consistently said the Cliffside unit meets the control standards, even though no review had been This summer, pressed by stat regulators, the company agreed to submit information it considers the equivalent of such a But Duke also contended the Cliffside project wasn’t subject to a review. “Dukde Energy has submitted information to the state demonstrating that Cliffside isa ‘minodr source’ and is not subject to the maximumn achievable control technology process,” the company says in a statemen t responding to Thornburg’s order.
“In fact, Cliffside Unit 6 will be one of thecleanesty coal-fired power plants in the with mercury emissions half those the plant now On Tuesday, Thornburg ruled in favor of the environmental groups on virtually every He found Duke’s voluntaryg submissions did not satisfy the federal reviewa requirements. There had been no hearings, he said, and thered was no opportunity for opponentsw tochallenge Duke’s assertions. He did not order Duke to halt But he told the utility to submit afull mercury-controol assessment to state environmental regulators withihn 10 days. And all reviewe requirements under the federal law are to completed withih60 days, Thornburg said.
He also retained authority to revieswthe study's results. That effectively leaves the case open untilthe mercury-controlo issue is resolved. “We are pleased with the court’x rejection of Duke’s arguments,” says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance forClean Energy. “Now it is time for (Dukew CEO) Jim Rogers to stop building coal plant s and focus on energy efficiency and renewable energt to power North Carolina into the 21st Duke Energy provides electricity to western parts of the Triangler including most of Durham andOrange