Audubon Fights New Coal Plant Near Pristine Little River Bottoms

Six Hundred MW plant detrimental to people and wildlife.

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Challenging development of the SWEPCO Turk coal-fired plant

One of Arkansas’s most Important Bird Areas, the Little River Bottoms in Hempstead County, is threatened by the construction of a coal-burning power plant. An 18,000 acre tract of contiguous, relatively undisturbed bottomland hardwood forest, the Little River Bottoms IBA is one of the most biologically diverse ecologically sensitive areas in Arkansas. Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) is building a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in close proximity to the bottoms. Besides being enormously expensive for SWEPCO customers, the plant will produce 6 million tons of carbon dioxide and emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury – all of which threaten the health of both birds and humans.

Update

This summer, the Arkansas Court of Appeals in a six to zero decision, ruled that the Public Service Commission incorrectly issued a permit (Certificate of Need) to SWEPCO. This decision upholds Audubon's belief that the coal plant is the wrong choice for Arkansas. SWEPCO is appelign the appeals court decsion to the Arkansas Supreme Court which may or may not hear the case., and at the present time we await to hear whether the court will hear the case. In the meantime, SWEPCO continues construction at the site, investing millions more in a project that may not come to fuition - we'll be watching to make sure they don't pass this cost on to YOU, the ratepayer.

The REAL Cost of SWEPCO's Coal Plant

In the Spring of 2009 Audubon Arkansas released an economic study on the cost of the new SWEPCO coal-fired plant in Hempstead County. The study supports the views of the entire environmental community that coal is not worth the cost.

Up in Smoke Executive Summary
Up in Smoke Report
Up in Smoke Tables and Charts

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