<p>Federal environmental officials improperly granted a power company a permit to operate a new natural gas plant because one of its other coal-fired plants is not in compliance with pollution rules, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.</p><p>The Environmental Protection Agency shouldn't have allowed Oglethorpe Power to get a permit in 2002 for its Wansley Combined Cycle Energy Facility in west Georgia, according to the decision.</p><p>The Sierra Club of Georgia sued the EPA, saying that Oglethorpe Power needed to fix problems at its coal-fired Plant Scherer in Monroe County north of Macon before it could get a permit for a new facility.</p><p>Plant Scherer is in violation of the Clean Air Act because it doesn't have pollution control equipment, said Colleen Kiernan, conservation organizer for the Sierra Club.</p><p>"Georgia has a big air pollution problem," Kiernan said, noting that Friday is the state's first smog alert day in 2004. "We need strong enforcement of the Clean Air Act so the people of Georgia have clean air to breath."</p><p>The appeals court ordered environmental regulators to review its permit for Plant Wansley.</p><p>"We're disappointed with the ruling. However, we are confident that the permit will be upheld by the EPA," said Doug Fulle, director of environmental and regulatory affairs for Oglethorpe Power.</p>
