EPA objects to rural co-op's proposed coal-fired plant; state regulators say they followed the law

The Environmental Protection Agency has objected to the way Kentucky state regulators addressed particulate pollution in the air-quality permit for a proposed coal-fired power plant. "In a letter dated May 24 to state environmental regulators, EPA officials said the state didn't require an adequate assessment of soot and other dangerous particles that the plant was expected to emit" in considering the permit for East Kentucky Power Cooperative's proposed J.K. Smith power plant in Clark County, The Courier-Journal reports.

Karen Wilson, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, told the Louisville newspaper that state officials had based their permit on actual regulations, and EPA was now asking them to follow more stringent "guidance" that hasn't been formalized. Wilson said state regulators plan to " discuss the EPA objection with cooperative officials," the newspaper reports. Andrew Melnykovych, a state Public Service Commission spokesman, told the paper the cooperative had planned to start construction later this year but last month, it filed with the state PSC to withdraw a request for approval of up to $900 million in private financing. (Read more)