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Sierra Club vs KCP&L
BIG WIN for Kansas City Area Residents!
by Melissa Blakley

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In a big win for the Sierra Club and Kansas City Area residents, Missouri’s Administrative Hearing Commission issued an order today denying KCPL’s motion to dismiss and ordered KCPL to provide discovery documents requested by Sierra Club concerning Iatan I operations.

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September 2006: The Washington University Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic (WUIELC) staff and students visited KCP&L’s Iatan I and proposed Iatan II powerplant site and toured homes of Sierra Club members in the shadow of the powerplant near Weston, Missouri. Left to right: Maxine Lipeles (Director WUIELC), Melissa Blakley (Ozark Chapter staff), Nathan Miller (WUIELC staff), Brian Maurizi (student), Maureen Mahon (student), Jacqueline Stevens (SC member), Susan Brown (SC member), Bernadette Youngblood, (SC member), Brian Schnall (student), Byron Combs (SC member).
  1. KCPL’s motion to dismiss was denied: Kansas City Power & Light was issued a permit to build a new coal-burning power plant by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) earlier this year. We appealed that decision. KCPL sought to have our appeal thrown out and lost—WE WON and the appeal continues.
  2. KCPL is ordered to turn over documents: At a public hearing in Weston last year, students from Washington University’s Environmental Law Clinic presented compelling evidence that KCPL upgraded their existing power plant—Iatan I—in recent years without seeking a new permit. If the upgrade occurred, it did not include a required upgrade in pollution controls. Sierra Club attorneys are seeking documents from KCPL concerning changes to the Iatan I facility since it has a direct impact on the permit issued for proposed Iatan II. KCPL asked the Administrative Hearing Commission to exclude the Iatan I documents. The Commission ordered KCPL to turn over the documents to Sierra Club attorneys.
  3. Next hearing moved to March 2007: The Commission moved the appeal hearing back six months from August 2006 to March 2007—3.5 years from the time KCPL first announced plans to build a new power plant and Sierra Club opposition began. This provides additional time for our attorneys to review documents and prepare their case. It also provides additional time for organizing opposition in the Kansas City Region.