Photos: San Joaquin Valley coal plant proposal stirs controversy

Tall palm trees border the proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California, near a pistachio farm in Buttonwillow. Local farmers and farm workers are opposed to the idea, and that of a train yard in nearby Shafter slated for expansion to handle the coal shipped from East Coast. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

May 17, 2014 8:46 AM PT

A proposal to build a $4-billion “clean coal plant” amid pistachio orchards in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley has brought the region to the brink of a new beginning, or deeper divisions.

Testing technology in a fragile community

The proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California, near a pistachio farm in Buttonwillow. Local farmers and farm workers are opposed to the idea. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Orlando Sanchez checks on a pistachio sapling at farm near the proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California, in Buttonwillow. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Workers plant pistachio saplings near the proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California in Buttonwillow. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Chris, left, and John Romanini are the owners of pistachio farms near the proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California, in Buttonwillow. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The pistachio farm owned by Chris and John Romanini, near the proposed site of a $4-billion coal power plant, Hydrogen Energy California in Buttonwillow. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Don Van Lue, resident of Tupman, opposes the coal power plant. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Almond farmer Tom Frantz is opposed to the idea of using a train yard in Shafter for handling the coal shipped in for a proposed power plant. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)