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Fulton Superior Court asked to overturn Judge Howells' ruling The Friends of the Chattahoochee and the Sierra Club filed action in the Superior Court of Fulton County Monday seeking to overturn the Jan. 11 ruling of the Administrative Law Judge upholding the air permit of the Longleaf Energy coal-fired power plant. The Petition for Judicial Review was filed on the final day of a 30-day deadline for appeal of the judge's ruling. The petition can be read in its entirety at www.earlycountynews.com. The petition must be heard by the superior court within 90 days. Further, the superior court reviewing the petition must issue a ruling on the issues presented for review within 30 days of the hearing or the Administrative Law Judges's decision will be upheld by law. The petition filed Monday restates the claims in the original petition that EPD's decision to issue the air permit to operate and construct the Longleaf power plant was in violation of state and federal law, and adversely affects petitioners' interests to protect Georgia's environment. The petition also claims the ALJ's ruling is (a) In violation of constitutional and statutory provisions; (b) In excess of statutory procedure; (c) Made upon unlawful procedure; (d) Affected by other error of law; (e) Clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative and substantial evidence of the whole record; and (f) Arbitrary and capricious or characterized by an abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion. One count of the petition to the Superior Court, which was not argued at trial, claims that the air permit is invalid because "no professional engineer supervised or prepared the permit" and that the judge did not allow the original petition to be amended to include that argument. In Judge Howells' order denying the motion, she also addressed the petitioners' claim and ruled that even if they had been allowed to amend the petition, "their claim would fail as a matter of law." Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Howells issued her ruling Jan 11 in a 108-page ruling, seven months after the permit was first appealed June 13. "Given the extensive review and evaluation this permit has received, both at EPD and by Judge Howells, we believe the Fulton County Superior Court will uphold the issuance of the permit," project manager Mike Vogt stated Tuesday. Petitioners opposed the the permit asserting that it violates provisions of the Georgia Air Quality Act, the Georgia Rules for Air Quality Control, and the federal Clean Air Act. Judge Howells' ruling was a huge step toward clearing the way for the constuction of the power plant, a joint project between LS Power and Dynegy Inc. It was first learned that LSPower had proposed to build the power plant in Early County in March 2001. EPD issued the air permit to Longleaf for the construction and operation of the Longleaf facility May 14, 2007. On that same date, EPD issued its Final Determination responding to the public comments that it had received concerning the Longleaf facility. In response to public and agency comments, and as a result of the correspondence and discussions between EPD and Longleaf, the final emission limitations for each of the four regulated pollutants at issue were more stringent than the limits originally proposed by Longleaf in its November 22, 2004 application. The total cost for the Longleaf facility will be approximately two billion dollars, with $400 million devoted to pollution control equipment. The Longleaf facility will be a baseload generating facility, meaning that it may provide electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of daily or seasonal changes in electricity demand. The facility will be located on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Early County, approximately 12 to 14 miles southwest of Blakely. Contrary to claims by the petitioners, the plant is expected to serve customers in Georgia. See the following court documents in their entirety by clicking on the links below • Petition for Judicial Review filed Feb. 11 • Judge Stephanie Howells' Jan. 11 ruling • Judge Howells' order denying motion to amend petition • Dec. 18 Order dismissing counts II, X, XI and XV and claims related to IGCC from original petition • Nov. 27 Order dismissing counts VIII and XIV in original petition • Original petition filed June 14 by Friends of the Chattahoochee and Sierra Club
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