TVA lawsuit costs approach $500,000 mark
Published: Tue, May. 02, 2006 12:17PM
Modified Tue, May. 02, 2006 12:26PM
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closeThe Council of State today approved spending $326,078 to cover legal bills in the ongoing air pollution lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority.
One member, Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, criticized the expenditure and voted against it.
In January, Attorney General Roy Cooper sued the TVA in federal court, claiming that people in North Carolina suffered ill health from the pollutants that waft downwind from TVA's 11 coal-fired power plants in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. In addition, he alleged that North Carolina's environment and economy are harmed by TVA's emissions.
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TVA has asked the court to dismiss the suit.
The state has retained two Washington, D.C., law firms -- Resolution Law Group and Ayres Law Group, both with expertise in air pollution litigation -- to help prepare the case. The latest expenditure brings the total cost of the lawsuit to $484,336.
Responding to Berry, Cooper said the cost of illnesses associated with air pollution, environmental damage and loss of tourism as a result of smoggy mountain vistas was much greater. He said if the state won the case, it would seek to recover attorneys' fees.
Staff writer Wade Rawlins can be reached at 829-4528 or wrawlins@newsobserver.com.
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