SWEPCO has signed a confidential settlement of lawsuits challenging the construction of the John W. Turk Power Plant in Hempstead County, according to a news release from the power company. The Hempstead County Hunting Club and other plaintiffs have withdrawn their challenges to the plant’s air permit and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the plant. The Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, along with the local affiliate group Audubon Arkansas, will continue their challenges to the plant’s air and Corps permits in the Arkansas Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court, respectively. SWEPCO hopes to begin operations at the plant next year. The release, including a few details on the settlement, is on the jump.

The Hunting Club’s exit means a loss of some financial clout for the plant’s opposition — a huge sum has been spent in opposition, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. The continuation of the water permit appeal — most recently held up by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — remains a critical issue because the plant can’t operate without drawing water from the Little River. A significant victory in the settlement is SWEPCO’s abandonment of plans to build a second unit of the coal-fired plant.

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Lev Guter, a Sierra Club spokesman, said the Sierra Club will press forward.

As we have done for years, Sierra Club will aggressively oppose SWEPCO’s dangerous and dirty coal-fired power plant until it is defeated. The Sierra Club is steadfast in its commitment to protecting Arkansas’ public health, water, air and critical habitats from the destruction that dirty coal wreaks on our way of life. The decision by the Hempstead County Hunting Club to settle its lawsuit with SWEPCO (Southwestern Electric Power Company) does not affect the Sierra Club’s ongoing legal challenges to SWEPCO’s proposed Turk coal-fired power plant.

You can read the full Sierra Club statement on the jump. Said Audubon Arkansas:

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“The Hempstead County Hunt Club has different and probably more local goals and priorities than those of Audubon Arkansas (a division of National Audubon Society) and Sierra Club; our issues are the increase in carbon emissions and the harmful pollutants that will be added to our air, water and land by the operation of this plant. Audubon and Sierra Club will fight on. From the recent rulings of the 8th District Court it is clear that we have a good case and the law on our side. We anticipate more victories in the future.”

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