California IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Utility to Appeal Decision on Plant

Power utility officials say that they will appeal an appellate court decision that could halt operation of a nearly completed $50-million coal-burning cogeneration plant in Hanford. The 5th District Court of Appeal stunned officials of GWF Power Systems Inc. by overturning the company’s right to operate the controversial coal-fired plant. The court ruled that an environmental impact report used by the Hanford City Council to approve the project in 1988 was inadequate. GWF, of Walnut Creek, had planned to open the power plant in September and provide energy to the adjacent Armstrong Rubber Co. tire plant.