TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A federal judge in Washington has sided with the Sierra Club in a legal dispute over a proposed coal-fired power plant in western Kansas.

Environmental attorney Jan (YAN) Hasselman predicted Thursday that the decision will at least delay Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s project.

The Sierra Club sued in federal court in Washington to force the federal government to do an environmental study of Sunflower’s plans. U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan issued a three-page order Tuesday saying he’d granted the group’s request to decide the case in its favor.

But most of his decision remains under seal to protect Sunflower’s confidential financial information, making the ramifications of the ruling unclear. Sunflower declined comment. The Hays-based utility plans to build its new coal-fired plant outside Holcomb, in southwest Kansas.

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