Proposed Illinois coal plant gets court go-ahead
ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 1, 2008 – TAYLORVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appeals board has rejected a challenge to a coal plant slated for central Illinois, clearing the way for the facility to be built once it receives final legislative approval.

The Sierra Club appealed the $2 billion plant last summer, arguing the state EPA didn't do enough to limit the project's global warming emissions.

But the federal regulators struck drown the appeal Monday, saying the Sierra Club raised its concerns too late in the review process.

The power-generating plant, called the Taylorville Energy Center, is being built by Christian County Generation LLC. Independent power producer Tenaska is Christian County Generation's managing partner.

The plant is intended to turn Illinois' high-sulfur coal into a synthetic gas for use in producing electricity and will become the state's first clean-coal plant to use what's known as the "integrated gasification combined cycle."

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Associated Press


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