A lawsuit that alleged a Metro East coal plant operated without proper state documentation has been dismissed after the company and the environmental group reached an agreement this week.
Judge Reona Daly of the U.S. District Court of Southern Illinois accepted the joint dismissal from Prairie State Generating Co. and the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club on Thursday.
Prairie State’s coal-fired power plant outside Marissa, which is about 45 miles southeast of downtown St. Louis, will continue to provide electricity to nearly 2.5 million households and businesses in Illinois and seven other Midwestern states.
Attorneys for the Sierra Club alleged in the lawsuit initially filed in 2023 that the Washington County plant operated without a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that’s required by the federal Clean Air Act.
The environmental group asked the federal court to cease operations at the coal facility. While Daly declined to stop Prairie State’s production, she allowed the litigation to continue last year.
In December, the Illinois Pollution Control Board issued an order asking the Illinois EPA to draft an operating permit for Prairie State or deny it. In January, the coal plant submitted an update to its application, and Prairie State is still awaiting a decision from the state agency, according to the company.
A representative for the Illinois EPA could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
Both Prairie State and the Sierra Club praised the joint dismissal.
“We are pleased this frivolous lawsuit has not only been dismissed but dismissed with prejudice, which means the Sierra Club cannot bring this matter back to court,” said Alyssa Harre, a spokeswoman for Prairie State Generating Co., in a statement. “Today’s (Thursday’s) action recognizes what we have argued from the start — this legal challenge was wholly without merit, as Prairie State has at all times been lawfully permitted to operate under Illinois law, which has been reaffirmed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Pollution Control Board.”
The Sierra Club staff said that no coal plant is above the law.
“We are looking forward to now participating in that process to make sure the permit reflects the most stringent requirements to protect Illinois and Missouri citizens from pollution from this plant,” said Megan Wachspress, a staff attorney with the Illinois Sierra Club.
The end goal for the club will be finding a responsible path to wind down Prairie State so various communities that pay into the publicly owned coal plant can find “less expensive electricity and doesn't have the planet destroying and harmful health effects,” Wachspress said.
The coal plant released the most greenhouse gases of any emitter in the state in 2023, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Baldwin Energy Complex, located about 15 miles southwest of Prairie State, and the Wood River Refinery in Roxana ranked as the second- and third-largest emitters two years ago.
The lawsuit’s dismissal comes at a time of change and transition for the coal industry in Illinois.
Legislation, dubbed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021, will require Prairie State and other publicly owned plants to become 100% carbon free by 2045.
