Pittsburgh-area environmentalists applaud withdrawal of plans to build natural gas-fired power plant
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Environmentalists are applauding the withdrawal of plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant south of Elizabeth Borough.
Late last week, the company announced its decision not to construct the plant.
At public hearings, environmental groups and citizens opposed the plant, which they said would spew harmful pollutants in a region already overburdened with poor air quality.
The Allegheny County Health Department granted the project a permit, but the company has informed the county it will not go forward.
"We feel very strongly that all of the great work our team and the community did to oppose this dirty power plant was the impetus for this permit being pulled," said Lisa Widawsky Hallowell of the Environmental Integrity Project.
Natural gas-fired plants are less polluting than coal-fired power plants, but environmentalist groups say they are still fossil fuels and support cleaner alternatives like wind and solar.