Work continues on a proposed $2 billion power plant in western Walla Walla County that would convert coal into gas to power a generator, while storing the carbon dioxide that's given off deep underground. The Port of Walla Walla paid about $4 million to buy 1,900 acres east of Pasco, thus acquiring the potential site for the project, according to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. In addition, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at Hanford has scheduled field tests for the technology that the new plant would use to inject the carbon dioxide into the underlying basalt rock. Construction could begin on the new plant in early 2008, the Tri-City Herald reported.