Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The Sierra Club and the state and national Audubon societies filed a federal lawsuit today seeking to halt construction of a coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County.
The groups filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Texarkana against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its district engineer, Jeffrey Eckstein. The suit seeks an injunction to stop construction of Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s planned $1.6 billion, 600-megawatt power plant near Fulton.
The suit alleges that the Corps failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act when it issued a permit to SWEPCO to fill wetlands and remove water from the Little River for the construction project.
Frank Worley, a spokesman for the Corps, said Thursday he could not comment on pending litigation.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled in June that the state Public Service Commission did not follow proper procedures when it issued a permit for the plant. The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in an appeal of that ruling on April 15.
