A judge turned down an attempt by the Sierra Club to overturn a state permit for a coal-fired power plant that began operating last spring near Maysville, according to a release Tuesday from the state Energy and Environment Cabinet.

Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that the state Division For Air Quality properly issued the permit to East Kentucky Power Cooperative for its Spurlock No. 4 unit.

John Lyons, the division's director, said the ruling shows that his agency's permits "are protective of human health and the environment."

On a separate front, the federal Environmental Protection Agency last month said that the Spurlock permit lacked the hazardous emission limits required by the Clean Air Act and told the state air quality division to take another look at it.