Court says power plant can't be built

VANCOUVER, B.C. — A Kirkland company will not be allowed to build a power plant near the Canadian border under a ruling by a Canadian appeals court.

The company, Sumas Energy 2, was seeking to have a ruling by the Canadian National Energy Board overturned. Wednesday, the Federal Court of Appeal declined to do so.

After the three members of the appeals court panel finished reading their decision and left the courtroom, several spectators cheered loudly and hugged each other.

The proposed Sumas 2 plant, which would have burned natural gas from Canada, would have been built in Sumas, just across the border from Abbotsford, B.C. It would have cost $400 million and generated 660 megawatts of power.

"We're pretty surprised. We thought we had a strong case," said company President Chuck Martin.

The proposal ran into opposition in the province's Fraser Valley, where communities contend air quality already is bad because of pollution drifting from the Vancouver area.

When, after extensive hearings, the National Energy Board rejected the proposed plant last spring, it was hailed as a clean-air victory by British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, local politicians and environmental groups.

The provincial government, the city of Abbotsford and several local organizations were intervenors in the case.

The energy board refused to allow power lines to be built through Abbotsford, saying the negative effects from 2.5-metric tons of daily pollution outweighed the benefits.

Sumas 2 would have been built less than 900 yards from the Canadian border. Under the proposal, a 5 ¼-mile power line would have started at Sumas and run to a B.C. Hydro substation in Abbotsford.

"But just because we've been working hard to improve our air quality doesn't give somebody the right to come in and fill up the cup again," she told reporters.

"The decision was very strong," said lawyer James Yardley, who represented the provincial government.

"The court clearly understood the issues before the [energy board], reviewed the standards that were considered and found that the board acted correctly."