California IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Court to Decide on Coal-Burning Plant

Attorneys for a coalition of farmers and environmentalists told a state appellate court it should overturn approval of a $43-million coal-burning power plant because it violates environmental law and will further damage crop production in the San Joaquin Valley, the nation’s richest farming region. Chris Garrett, attorney for GWF Inc., the power company, told judges of the 5th District Court of Appeal that the project has state-of-the-art coal-burning technology that will not damage air quality. But attorneys representing the coalition argued before that the project violates the California Environmental Quality Act and would spew nearly 1,700 pounds of noxious gases and particulate matter into the air daily. They noted that damage from poor air quality to Kings County’s cotton crop already amounts to $30 million a year.