Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer struck down a key provision in a state permit for a coal-burning power plant under construction in Wise County.
The judge said the state Air Pollution Control Board erred in not setting a firm limit for mercury emissions from the $1.8 billion Dominion Virginia Power plant.
The ruling, dated Monday but released today, means the board must craft another permit for the plant.
The board set a mercury limit, but the permit allowed the limit to be loosened if the plant had trouble meeting the original requirement.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the challenge on behalf of four other environmental groups — the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club.
The environmentalists challenged two permits issued by the air board in 2008. On the second permit, the environmentalists said that the board should have issued a limit for carbon dioxide emissions, which are linked to global warming.
The judge rejected that, saying the federal Clean Air Act does not require the board to set a carbon limit.
The environmentalists also challenged the permits on a handful of other points. They won on the one.
Cale Jaffe, an attorney for the law center, today called the decision "an important victory for the health and welfare of Virginia."
David Clementson, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, which represented the air board, said, “We are pleased that the court ruled for the board on all but one issue. We shall work with our clients to determine what further course of action to pursue.”
The ruling does not block or kill the power plant, said Jim Norvelle, a Dominion spokesman. "We believe the remaining issue regarding the mercury emissions can be addresssed, and the station can be completed on schedule."
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