On January 11th, 2008 Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Howells issued a ruling that upheld the state Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) decision to issue an air pollution permit to Dynegy’s Longleaf plant, ignoring the evidence that the company did not adequately restrict health- threatening sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfuric acid mist and total particulate matter emissions. The court also ignored evidence that the plant’s emissions would negatively impact crops essential to the local economy. Annually the plant will release:

•  240 pounds of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that makes its way into our water supply where it accumulates in fish and the people who eat them to the point that children and women of childbearing age are urged to limit fish consumption;
• 6,400 tons of sulfur dioxide, a major ingredient in fine particle pollution, linked to premature death and respiratory and cardiovascular disease;
• 3,700 tons of nitrogen dioxide, a major ingredient in the photochemical smog that plagues many cities across Georgia on summer days, triggering asthma attacks and sending people to the hospital; and
• nine million tons of carbon dioxide, the leading global warming gas which vast amounts of scientific evidence link to warming temperatures.