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Santee Cooper has received a needed -- and controversial -- air permit for the Pee Dee Generating Station coal-powered 1,320 megawatt plant in Florence County.

Read more stories on this subject in our coal topic page.DHEC fielded more than 2,000 comments on the power plant. Many people and groups were concerned about mercury, sulfur, and carbon dioxide emissions from the plant.

Get all sorts of details on the approval and permit over at DHEC.

You can expect a reaction from environmental groups fairly quickly, but there are 15 days to challenge the decision.

Head over to The Charleston Regional Business Journal for some analysis and what's to come.

While The Post and Courier's brief on the news is a bit more hard lined (and that's coming from hard-edged me), in part:
Santee Cooper's proposed coal-fired power plant in Florence County will be allowed to release more than 90 pounds of poisonous mercury a year.

Catch more information on the power plant in our past story.