HOUSTON (AP) -- Three environmental groups are suing an Austin-area coal-fired power plant they say has repeatedly violated the federal Clean Air Act.
Environment Texas, the Environmental Integrity Project and the Texas Campaign for the Environment filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the Lower Colorado River Authority's Fayette Power Project of exceeding federal pollution limits.
The groups say the plant has increased capacity without making upgrades required to prevent pollution.
Ranchers, pecan growers and some scientists suspect decades of sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant have killed plant life in the area, including thousands of pecan trees.
The plant has denied it exceeded pollution limits and says there is no scientific link between pollution from the plant and the death of trees.
A spokeswoman did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.