The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday denied a motion by environmental groups seeking to impose a stay on the $1.6 billion John W. Turk Jr. plant under construction by Southwestern Electric Power Co. in Hempstead County.

The Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society had argued that the plant would violate the federal Clean Air Act.

In June, the Arkansas Court of Appeals overturned a permit by the Public Service Commission for the plant. SWEPCO has asked the state Supreme Court to review the ruling.

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