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SW: →Lawsuit against Big Stone I: - add section
In June of 2008 the [[Sierra Club]] filed a lawsuit against [[Otter Trail Power]], the owner and operator of [[Big Stone Power Plant]] (Big Stone I), accusing the company of violating the [[Clean Air Act]] as the company failed to install modern pollution controls when the facility was upgraded. In the summer of 2009 the suit was dismissed by a federal judge claiming the statute of limitations had expired. The Sierra Club then appealed the decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Sierra Club had originally asked the judge to force the utility to install [[scrubbers]] to reduce pollution before they build, the now-abandoned, [[Big Stone II]].<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/business/19808804.html “
Sierra Club's suit alleges violations at Big Stone I",] HJ Cummins, ''Star Tribune'', June 11, 2008</ref> However, the Sierra Club's ultimate goal is to shut down Big Stone I in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.<ref>[http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/04/bigstone-appeal/ “Conservation group appeals Big Stone power plant ruling"] MPR News, August 4, 2009</ref>
On August 12, 2010, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of the [[Clean Air Act]] lawsuit against Otter Trail Power, saying the [[Sierra Club]] should have sued earlier. The Sierra Club in June 2008, saying the Big Stone plant violated the federal Clean Air Act by failing to obtain permits for modifications and exceeding emission limits. Otter Tail moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the group needed to sue within five years of the date of the last modifications, which were done in 2001. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of the case.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HI3Q401.htm "Dismissal of Sierra Club's Big Stone suit upheld"] Bloomberg, August 12, 2010.</ref>
==Plant Data==
