NEWS IN BRIEF

— Plant scrubber’s value unproved, filings say

Adding a $408 million scrubber at a coal-fired power plant near Gentry is not in the public interest, the Arkansas attorney general and the general staff of the Arkansas Public Service Commission said in briefs filed Friday.

Southwestern Electric Power Co. and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp., equal owners of the 528-megawatt Flint Creek plant, asked the commission in February to rule that the scrubber should be installed to minimize pollution levels.

But the attorney general and the commission’s staff argued Friday that SWEPCO hasn’t proved that the scrubber is the most economical option to upgrade the plant.

Two better alternatives are converting Flint Creek to a natural-gas plant or buying an existing naturalgas facility, the staff brief said.

The attorney general’s office said that SWEPCO should consider a “full range of alternatives” for upgrading the plant instead of concentrating on adding the scrubber.

A decision in the case is expected by the end of the year.

  • David SmithCorps set to finalize locks plan by year end

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will finalize a new policy by the end of the year regarding lock closures along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, agency officials said in a news release Friday.

Any changes would start in 2013.

The Corps is considering closing 13 locks along the 445-mile system for several hours daily for maintenance and to preserve aging equipment.

The five other locks on the river started closing for four hours daily Oct. 1. The regular closures, part of a national program, are the first in the Arkansas River system’s 41-year history.

The Corps also is looking at restrictions for hours that recreational boaters can access the locks.

The public may send further comments about the proposals by Nov. 30 to: CESWL-[email protected] .

  • Lisa HammerslyDeltic, Acxiom gain;

state index up 2.68

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, finished up 2.68 to 238.56 Friday.

Twelve stocks advanced, two declined and two were unchanged.

Deltic Timber rose by 4.7 percent in heavy trading.

Acxiom gained 2.3 percent on above-average volume.

For the week, 11 stocks fell and five improved.

First Federal lost 10.3 percent for the week.

USA Truck climbed 5.2 percent for the week.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business, Pages 31 on 11/17/2012

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