Authored by Steve O’Day, soday@sgrlaw.com On July 26, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that had found that pollutant emissions from four coal-fired power plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority constituted a public nuisance to the State of North Carolina, and vacated an injunction requiring stringent emissions controls on the four plants. In its ruling, the Fourth Circuit stated that it is “difficult” to see how emissions that were explicitly permitted and regulated by EPA and the State of Tennessee could be a public nuisance. The Court stated that “if allowed to stand,… Read more