Judge orders full review of Duke’s Cliffside unit

By MIKE BAKER Associated Press Writer
Published: December 3, 2008

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A federal judge has given Duke Energy Corp. 60 days to undergo a full environmental assessment of a coal-fired generator under construction in western North Carolina.
    A decision issued Tuesday allows Duke to continue building the Cliffside unit outside Charlotte, but dismisses the company’s argument that it doesn’t need a full assessment to ensure it’s using the best-available technology to capture hazardous pollutants.
    Environmental activists said the ruling could affect the construction plans of perhaps a dozen U.S. power plants that began construction during a three-year period.
    That window ended in February, when a judge determined that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by scrapping a policy that required utilities to install the best available technology to capture mercury.