Ellington

The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club filed a motion Friday (PDF, 70k) to remove a Mississippi Public Service Commission attorney connected with the second-phase hearing on the workability of a proposed coal plant in Kemper County because her father could benefit from the plant.

The Sierra Club filed an order specifically asking for the recusal of attorney Katherine Briggs Collier "from any further substantive participation" in the proceedings.

The motion argues that Collier should be removed because her father, Eddie Briggs, is a principal in Kemper Natural Resources, LLC, the company purchasing property for the Kemper County coal plant, which is being debated before the commission this week. Briggs' father has a long-term contract with Mississippi Power related to the purchase of leases and other property interests for the project.

"The Sierra Club does not allege that Ms. Collier has acted unethically or improperly," wrote Sierra Club Attorney Robert Wiygul. "However, the standard in recusal cases in judicial settings is the existence of circumstances in which impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

"Given this is the most important matter to come before this commission in decades, it is extremely important to all parties that the process be fair in fact and appearance," Wygul wrote.

Commissioner Brandon Presley said the commission was reviewing the motion and would render a decision next week, possibly on Wednesday.