Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s the story:
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina can proceed with a lawsuit that accuses the Tennessee Valley Authority of causing a “public nuisance” with pollution from its coal-fired plants, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., said the lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Roy Cooper in January 2006 can continue.
TVA has coal-fired plants in three states: Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky. Cooper’s lawsuit says the pollution from such plants harms North Carolina’s health, environment and economy. TVA spokesman John Moulton said that while the federal utility was disappointed in the appeals court decision, it has been preparing for the main case to go to trial.
“And TVA’s analysis shows that emissions from North Carolina power plants impact air quality in North Carolina far more than emissions from TVA plants,” Moulton said from TVA’s headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee. “This will continue to be true even if the North Carolina plants reduce emissions to comply with North Carolina’s Clean Smokestacks Act.”
He suggested TVA will argue that North Carolina needs to get its own house in order before coming after coal-fired power plants on the other side of the Great Smoky Mountains.
TVA has already reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 80 percent since 1977 and it has cut nitrogen oxide by more than 80 percent during the summer ozone season, he said. And additional emission reductions are planned.
TVA, the country’s largest public utility, has spent almost $5 billion on controls and has plans to spend another $3 billion to $4 billion – including $1.2 billion on control projects now under way at the three plants – John Sevier, Bull Run and Kingston, all in Tennessee – that are closest to the Great Smoky Mountains.
The case is pending trial in U.S. District Court in Asheville before Judge Lacy H. Thornburg.
