State briefs

AG wants regulators to review plant settlement

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ attorney general is asking state regulators to review an agreement between the state’s largest electric utility and environmental groups to eventually stop using coal at two power plants and shut down a natural gas plant on Lake Catherine.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the state Public Service Commission Thursday to review the settlement Entergy Arkansas announced last month with the Sierra Club and National Parks Conservation Association.

Under the deal, Entergy says it will stop using coal no later than the end of 2028 at its White Bluff plant and by the end of

2030 at its Independence plant. The utility says it will cease operation of its Lake Catherine natural gas plant by the end of 2027.

Rutledge says she does not believe the agreement has been properly vetted.

Air quality ‘unhealthy’ near Bella Vista fire, state says

BELLA VISTA — The Arkansas Department of Health says testing shows that air quality is “unhealthy” near an underground fire in Bella Vista.

Firefighters responded in July to the fire at the Trafalgar Road site, known as a “stump dump” because it involves burning wood waste and yard debris. Officials have said that the fire may be burning more than 50 to 60 feet underground.

Officials have said a property owner’s association operated the stump dump for about 13 years.

The health department said Wednesday that anyone within a half-mile radius of the site should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The health department says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is also monitoring the air quality in the area.