LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas utility regulators planned to resume hearings Monday on a proposed $1.3 billion coal-fired electric plant near Fulton in southwest Arkansas.
Earlier this month, the state Public Service Commission heard arguments by hunters and others who said pristine woods and waterways could be harmed by the Southwestern Electric Power Co. plant.
But the company maintains that the risk matches the economic benefits of building the 600-megawatt facility. SWEPCO plans to build the plant on 2,875 acres by 2011. The company estimates the plant will create 110 full-time jobs once it is operating, with an estimated annual payroll of $12 million.
The PSC scheduled hearings through Friday.
PSC staffer Susan D'Auteuil has said an investigation found that the plant was a 'reasonable resource' for the utility and complied with requirements under Arkansas law. The state attorney general's office has said it would have no opinion on the project.
A company lawyer says SWEPCO chose coal to power the plant because of the volatility and 'erratic nature' of natural gas prices. The company says the plant will comply with state and federal environmental regulations.
At the Aug. 9 hearing, Charles Nestrud, a lawyer for a group owning hunting lands near the plant, offered the three-member commission a series of photographs of American alligators, bald eagles and some of the 40 species of bird living in the region. He criticized the utility for not including the new power lines and upgrades in its environmental assessment of building the plant.
The Arkansas Department of Heritage also has expressed concern that 'cultural deposits' may be buried below the plant site, and the agency recommends that further archaeological study be done.
Local reaction to the plant proposal has been mixed.
The utility, a division of Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power, has 464,000 customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
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