An appeal has been filed asking the courts to rescind the air permits the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control issued to Santee Cooper in February for its planned coal-fired power plant, called the Pee Dee Energy Campus, in Florence County.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed the appeal Monday on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, the S.C. Coastal Conservation League, the S.C. Wildlife Federation, and the Sierra Club.
This is the latest wave of protests to the proposed 600-megawatt coal-fired generation facility, which would be located on a 2,709-acre tract in Kingsburg. The facility is scheduled to become operational sometime after 2012 at a cost of about $1.25 billion to build.
Blan Holman, an attorney for the SELC, said the appeal is the next step in the process of shutting down the plans for the coal-fired facility.
The SELC claims DHEC used bad data when its gave Santee Cooper air quality permits for the plant, and burning coal will create large amounts of air pollution that will cause health problems and damage property.
“Our view is that this is an unlawful permit for an unneeded plant,” he said. “It’s especially unfortunate given that South Carolina has better, cleaner energy options that would create more jobs.”
Laura Varn, spokeswoman for Santee Cooper, said the facility will feature the latest technology and will be one of the cleanest coal plants in the country. She said the company has no plans to discontinue to permitting process.
“We’ve been expecting this as part of the litigation phase of the permitting process,” she said. “We are proceeding on. We are committed to the Pee Dee Energy Campus as part of a balanced solution to meet the needs of South Carolinians.”
DHEC officials declined to comment on pending litigation.
A majority of S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Board members voted in February against remanding the original air permit for the proposed coal-fired plant. The board members, despite misgivings, decided the permit was issued properly.
In recent months, the backlash against coal-fired power plant has been severe. Gov. Mark San-ford joined the opposition prior to the decision of the DHEC board members.
His announcement was followed by a series of press releases agreeing with his stance on the issue. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources also sent a strongly worded letter to DHEC officials to recommend a remand of the air permit.
The permit gave Santee Cooper permission to move forward with the process in an at-tempt to build two 600-megawatt boilers on the campus.
The Army Corp of Engineers’ Environmental Impact Statement, which will determine if Santee Cooper can continue making progress in the permitting process, is expected this summer.
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