The former director of Audubon Arkansas says the $1.7 billion coal-fired plant under construction in Hempstead County poses a “tremendous” threat to the birds, fish and other wildlife in the area.
Ken Smith testified Tuesday at a hearing where a federal judge is considering whether to issue an injunction stopping construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s John W. Turk plant in southwest Arkansas. Smith says construction and operation of the plant threatens the area’s large bird population.
Attorneys for SWEPCO argue that there’s no evidence that construction of the plant has hurt the environment.
The court hearing is the latest legal battle over the SWEPCO plant. The state Supreme Court ruled in May that SWEPCO didn’t go through the proper permitting process at the state Public Service Commission. Since then, SWEPCO has said it will make the Turk facility a merchant plant that doesn’t require a PSC permit.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson is expected to last all week.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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