Appalachian Voices and N.C. WARN are leading the charge against the new Duke power plant being constructed at Cliffside in Western North Carolina. On Monday the two agencies filed an appeal in court seeking to halt construction of the new coal fired power plant. The new plant will produce 5.5 million tons of C02 a year. The center of the controversy involves the illegality of Duke opening a plant without the most stringent pollution control technology available in place.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last month found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act when it scrapped a policy that required utilities to install the best available technology to capture mercury — a neurotoxin that can damage developing brains of fetuses and very young children.”

20 other agencies, including the Sierra Club and the Waterkeeper Alliance, say they would also appeal the decision to allow Duke Power to continue production of the Cliffside plant.

“We need to get this plant shut down right now,” said John Runkle, an attorney with N.C. WARN. “This plant is just not needed.”

Citizen Times News
BlueRidgeNow.com News