The House ethics committee on Thursday cleared Rep. Heath Shuler of any wrongdoing for his role in a land deal.

Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat has been dealing with questions about whether he used his office improperly to influence the Tennessee Valley Authority over a land swap. The House ethics committee cleared Shuler and was the third investigative body to find no wrong-doing, Shuler's office notes. In a statement, Shuler said he was ready to move on with his job of representing his constituents.

Throughout my personal and professional life I have always held myself to the highest possible ethical standard. I maintained that standard through all my interactions with the TVA relating to Blackberry Cove. I have never and will never attempt to use my office for personal gain and look forward to continuing to work on behalf of the people of Western North Carolina.

Questions about a real estate development are swirling around U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler.

Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, became a partner in the Cove at Blackberry ridge in 2005, the year before he was elected to the House, the Asheville Citizen Times reports. The partnership planned to develop lake-side property after the Tennessee Valley Authority said the property included water access rights.

TVA officials later discovered that the land did not have water access rights, and the partnership sought approval of a land swap with the TVA so a boat dock could be built.

Shuler maintains he had no contact with TVA on the Blackberry Ridge deal until after TVA CEO Tom Kilgore approved an arrangement in June 2008 that provided water access along the reservoir.

TVA's inspector general found "no evidence" that Shuler used his position to pressure TVA on the project, but investigators said Shuler's involvement created the appearance of preferential treatment.

The TVA inspector general's office began investigating whether Shuler had improperly influenced the decision in 2008.

When the decision to approve the land swap was made, Shuler was serving on a House committee that oversees the TVA.

Shuler says he had no contact with the TVA while the swap was being considered. An Inspector General's report on the issue found otherwise.

The House Ethics Committee is looking into Shuler's role. The issue has become ammunition for daily attacks from Republicans. 

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler traded waterfront property with the TVA this summer.

The Waynesville Democrat is a partner in a development group that traded roughly equal sized stretches of waterfront property in Tennessee with the Tennessee Valley Authority, according to Knoxvillebiz.com.

The deal has attracted attention because Shuler sits on a committee that exercises oversight over TVA, a government-run public utility. TVA officials approved the deal in June.

The land acquired by Shuler's group likely will be used for a community dock and boat ramp for a development they're building.

Shuler's office and TVA officials say he wasn't involved in negotiating the deal, and Shuler has had conflicts with the agency on environmental issues: 

During a 2007 hearing, he asked the agency how it would reduce air pollution that enters the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from TVA power plants. Kilgore, told the legislator that TVA planned to install a new scrubber at its plant in Rogersville.

Shuler also helped lead opposition to the Road to Nowhere, a long-delayed road through the national park that had been proposed to replace a thoroughfare that was flooded by the creation of TVA's Fontana Dam in the 1940s. The road now has been scrapped in favor of a monetary settlement for Swain County, N.C.

The state's pollution lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority could cost as much as $5 million in outside lawyers and experts.

A senior deputy attorney general told the Council of State on Tuesday that the expensive suit could mean a public health benefit of more than $600 milion a year for the state if the TVA is required to install pollution monitors and controls on its power plants, said James C. Gulick, senior deputy attorney general.

The council was asked to approve $779,495 on legal bills for the lawsuit, in which the state is seeking to force the TVA to curb emissions.

"This is a complex case," Gulick told the council. "They are a very stubborn and efficient opponent."

Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry voted against the expense.

A three-judge panel ruled that North Carolina can sue the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The panel in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the TVA's motions to dismiss a lawsuit that demands the utility clean up its power plants and reduce air pollution.

North Carolina sued the TVA in 2006, claiming that thousands of North Carolina residents suffered ill health from pollution blowing across the mountains from TVA coal plants in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The lawsuit also argues the pollution has hurt North Carolina's environment and economy.

"Clean air is critical to our health and our economy," Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. "This ruling clears the way for us to to make TVA clean up its pollution that's dirtying our air and making North Carolinians sick."

TVA disputes the claims. (N&O)

The outside lawyers in the state's case against the Tennessee Valley Authority are putting in the hours. But exactly what they've been doing for the last three months, we don't know.

Lawyers in the state Attorney General's office heavily redacted invoices submitted by the Ayres Law Group and the Resolution Law Group. The invoices were for $647,884.45 and included work the firms did on the state's lawsuit against the TVA.

Attorney General Roy Cooper sued the authority in 2006 to try to force it to reduce the amount of pollutants its coal-fired power plants release into the air.

The Council of State approved paying for the latest round of bills Tuesday. The litigation could eventually cost as much as $5 million, a price tag that Cooper said would be worth it if state residents can breathe cleaner air.

More after the jump.

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