RAINELLE, W.Va. -- A state official says three southern West Virginia towns won't have to pay a $6 million debt run up by a proposed clean coal power plant.

Though Rainelle, Quinwood and Rupert own the canceled Western Greenbrier Co-Generation project, West Virginia Economic Development Authority Executive Director David Warner says they won't have to repay its debts.

"There's no way anyone can recover that $6 million unless the project is restarted and brought to completion,'' Warner said. "That's not likely based on the current situation.''

Co-Gen, in fact, says the project has been canceled. The company is blaming environmentalists and federal delays for killing its plan to generate power from coal waste.

The project has been canceled because it can't finance construction without the Department of Energy, Co-Gen said in a statement.

"Repeated legal challenges to the project by West Virginia-based environmental groups, as well as delays in the publication and approval of an environmental impact statement, caused years of delay in the project's development and were the major contributing factors in the project's ultimate cancellation,'' Co-Gen said.

Western Greenbrier defaulted on a $3 million loan guaranteed by Warner's agency last November.

"There was no collateral for the loan, so technically we would have the right to all the studies and whatever the engineering designs that were completed, but my agency had to take the $3 million loss,'' Warner said. "The towns will not be held liable for any of that because they were just limited partners. The liability never flowed back to the individual cities.''

Warner says Western Greenbrier also hasn't paid a $1.3 million engineering bill and a $500,000 bank loan. Co-Gen has said it defaulted on a $1.2 million West Virginia Development Office loan as well.

RAINELLE, W.Va. -- A state official says three southern West Virginia towns won't have to pay a $6 million debt run up by a proposed clean coal power plant.

Though Rainelle, Quinwood and Rupert own the canceled Western Greenbrier Co-Generation project, West Virginia Economic Development Authority Executive Director David Warner says they won't have to repay its debts.

"There's no way anyone can recover that $6 million unless the project is restarted and brought to completion,'' Warner said. "That's not likely based on the current situation.''

Co-Gen, in fact, says the project has been canceled. The company is blaming environmentalists and federal delays for killing its plan to generate power from coal waste.

The project has been canceled because it can't finance construction without the Department of Energy, Co-Gen said in a statement.

"Repeated legal challenges to the project by West Virginia-based environmental groups, as well as delays in the publication and approval of an environmental impact statement, caused years of delay in the project's development and were the major contributing factors in the project's ultimate cancellation,'' Co-Gen said.

Western Greenbrier defaulted on a $3 million loan guaranteed by Warner's agency last November.

"There was no collateral for the loan, so technically we would have the right to all the studies and whatever the engineering designs that were completed, but my agency had to take the $3 million loss,'' Warner said. "The towns will not be held liable for any of that because they were just limited partners. The liability never flowed back to the individual cities.''

Warner says Western Greenbrier also hasn't paid a $1.3 million engineering bill and a $500,000 bank loan. Co-Gen has said it defaulted on a $1.2 million West Virginia Development Office loan as well.