Nov. 3--SALEM -- A leading New England environmental organization is holding a public meeting tonight on its efforts to close the oil- and coal-burning Salem Harbor Station power plant.

The Conservation Law Foundation said the local power plant is at a "tipping point" and is facing several challenges, including a new one: the need to renew a permit for its water cooling system.

"It's been expired since 1999," said Shanna Cleveland, a staff attorney for the CLF.

"Prior administrations were extremely lenient about allowing these plants to operate without a new permit," said Seth Kaplan, vice president for climate advocacy at the CLF. "The big story is that the permit is being reviewed."

The permit for the Salem plant is currently under review by the Environmental Protection Agency, but no action is expected for some time.

"I don't see it in the immediate future," said Damien Houlihan, an environmental engineer for the Boston office of the EPA.

The plant takes in water from Salem Harbor in the process of making steam to power the generators. The heated water is then discharged back into the harbor.

Plant owner Dominion said the permit was in an "administratively extended status" when Dominion bought Salem Harbor Station in 2005. Many power plants have expired or extended water permits due to a backlog at the EPA, Houlihan said.

Dominion has discussed the water permit with the EPA, but no hearing has been set, a company spokesman said.

The water cooling system has not been a big issue here, but it has been at Brayton Point, another power plant in Somerset, Mass., that is owned by Dominion, a Virginia energy company.

At the much larger Brayton Point plant, Dominion is spending an estimated $500 million to construct two huge water cooling towers that will circulate cool water back into the plant and make it unnecessary to discharge heated water into Mount Hope Bay. Each tower will be 500 feet tall, or about 50 stories, with bases 300 feet wide.

The Conservation Law Foundation contends that the Salem water cooling system kills fish, which are trapped by a screen at the inlet, and damages harbor plant life.

"We're trying to convince the EPA that this is something that merits their (attention) sooner rather than later," Cleveland said.

Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Salem Visitor Center. The presentation by the CLF lawyers is at 6:15 p.m.

They also will discuss a recent announcement by ISO-New England, operators of the region's power grid, about how much power will be needed from the Salem plant in future years.

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