Dallas Oil Executive Sues TXU Over Coal-Fired Power Plant Plans

[hatrack]

A Dallas oilman says his federal lawsuit against one of TXU's proposed coal-fired power plants is the first of many. Albert Huddleston and his group, the CleanCOALition, filed the lawsuit with a local group, Robertson County Our Land Our Lives. The suit alleges that TXU's plans do not use the best available technology for cleaning up pollution as required by the Clean Air Act.

TXU is seeking air permits for eight coal plants in Texas. The one named in Huddleston's lawsuit, Oak Grove, about 40 miles southeast of Waco, is most along in the process. Huddleston's attorney, Frederick Addison of Dallas, said his client plans to sue TXU on all of its proposed plants.

TXU officials called the suit premature and invalid, saying the Oak Grove permit has not yet been granted. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is expected to rule next month on the permit. Judges in a contested case hearing process recommended denying the permit. "To fight about these issues in court before the process has had a chance to work is inappropriate," TXU spokeswoman Kim Morgan said.

Huddleston said the Clean Air Act specifically allows plaintiffs to file suit against a project before it is granted a permit. The lawsuit filed Friday does not seek a money judgment but asks for an injunction to stop construction. The pollution would harm not only the immediate area but the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which already exceeds federal limits on ozone pollution, the suit states.

EDIT

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=state&id=4827415

[kestrel91316]

1. Oh, the irony!