Topeka ? Environmentalists on Tuesday cheered a court ruling that the proposed 895 megawatt coal-burning power plant in southwest Kansas cannot be built until there is a thorough environmental review.

“From a public health and environmental perspective, coal-fired power is the most expensive option available,” said Scott Allegrucci of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “We are confident that once the environmental impacts of this plant are considered in light of alternatives, the project’s impacts will be unacceptable and it will be rejected.”

The decision was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan in Washington D.C. in the latest turn of events affecting the Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s project near Holcomb.

Sullivan’s decision followed up a ruling from March 2011 that said the Rural Utilities Service, which was financially supporting the Sunflower project, failed to consider environmental impacts of the plant.

Sullivan has ordered that the RUS shall not take any actions in connection to the project until an environmental impact statement is complete.

Sunflower spokeswoman Cindy Hertel said the company was analyzing the decision.