WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) – A state environmental official has ruled that the huge numbers of fish killed by the cooling system at the Indian Point nuclear plant prove that the system is harmful to the environment.

Estimates range from 900,000 to 1.2 billion fish killed each year as river water is sucked in for use as a coolant.

The ruling means the plant’s owner, Entergy Nuclear, may no longer raise the environmental-impact issue as it battles the state’s order to build costly towers that recycle cooling water. Entergy had argued that the river’s fish populations remained stable despite the kills.

A company spokesman says Entergy still has several other issues to argue.