Topeka ? More than five months after the state environmental agency closed the public comment period on the proposed coal-fired power project in western Kansas, no decision’s come yet on whether to allow it.

And officials say there is no timetable on when the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will issue its decision.

“It’s still the same,” Joe Blubaugh, a KDHE spokesman, said. “We do not have a set date at this point. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Officials with Hays-based Sunflower Electric Power Corp. are eagerly awaiting KDHE’s decision on whether two, or possibly three, 700-megawatt coal-burning plants can be built near Holcomb next to Sunflower’s existing 360-megawatt plant.

“We wished we would’ve had the answer long ago, but we’re confident KDHE is doing a good job at doing their job,” Steve Miller, Sunflower spokesman, said.

Meanwhile, much has occurred since mid-December when KDHE took the proposal under advisement. Plans for the plant have drawn strong opposition from environmentalists concerned about carbon dioxide emissions. Many scientists believe carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions produce disastrous climate change, but neither the federal government nor the state regulates the gases.

Late last month, Lawrence environmentalists Sarah and Ray Dean filed a lawsuit saying that KDHE needs to impose restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal.

“We must turn the tide against global warming, and reducing C02 emissions is an excellent place to begin,” Sarah Dean said.

The Deans point to a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in which it ruled 5-4 that greenhouse gas emissions are an air pollutant and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its refusal to control those emissions.

Sunflower Electric officials have defended the proposed project, saying the new plants would burn cleaner than older coal-fired plants.

The Sierra Club also has filed a lawsuit, demanding that KDHE have a formal hearing on the controversial project.

The Sierra Club said KDHE denied its request for a “quasi judicial hearing” on Sunflower’s application.

Yvonne Anderson, chief legal counsel for KDHE, said the agency will seek dismissal of the lawsuits.

Anderson argues that regulation of C02 should be decided on the federal level before states get involved.

“The feds need to adopt them (regulations) first,” Anderson said. “CO2 doesn’t stop at the border,” she said.

As far as the Sierra Club lawsuit goes, Anderson said KDHE followed appropriate rules in the permit process and had three public hearings. If the agency grants a permit, she said, opponents can challenge the action in court.

“They have due process,” she said.

Another development in the proposal occurred in April when Tri-State Generation and Transmission, one of the project partners, announced it would delay construction of one of the units planned near Holcomb. The Westminster, Colo.-based company said it plans to pursue other natural gas and renewable energy plants to serve customers.

In addition, the Lawrence City Commission has urged KDHE to deny the permit because of environmental concerns, as have the attorneys general from eight states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Sunflower Electric says it remains committed to the project, although it concedes that if the plan is approved, the hearings and potential legal appeals will delay the start of construction from this year to next.

“It’s been longer than we would’ve preferred,” Miller said, adding, “It’s been our observation that the agency (KDHE) is being very deliberate and careful in its work.”