EPA’s May Update of Air Pollution Limits Underestimated Cancer-Causing Emissions of Ethylene Oxide
Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, and allies yesterday sued EPA for issuing rules designed to reduce air pollution from chemical manufacturing plants that fail to adequately protect local communities from cancer-causing pollutants, including ethylene oxide.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, California Communities Against Toxics, Air Alliance Houston and allies challenged EPA’s new national emission standards released on May 16 for hazardous air pollutants from the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing and polymers and resins industries.
The environmental groups argue that the new standards do not go far enough to protect downwind neighborhoods and need to be strengthened because EPA underestimated the amount of ethylene oxide emitted by chemical plants. The new rules also allow chemical plants to release too much ethylene oxide through flaring, the environmental groups say.
“While these regulations were a step forward in many ways, they have some serious flaws that really need to be fixed,” said Patton Dycus, Attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). “EPA is endangering people’s health by deliberately undercounting the amount of toxic emissions coming from these chemical factories.”
Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics and chair of the Sierra Club, National Clean Air Team, said: “Chemicals released from these chemical manufacturing plants will still exceed safe levels even after these rules come into force, adversely effecting frontline communities. Both the states and the EPA need to do more to protect these environmental justice communities.”
Earthjustice Attorney Deena Tumeh said: “The EPA’s underestimation of the risks posed by chemical facilities puts nearby communities in grave danger. By downplaying ethylene oxide emissions, the EPA fails to protect public health adequately. We must address these shortcomings to ensure the safety and well-being of all affected neighborhoods.”
In its announcement this spring of the new air toxics rules, EPA argued that they would reduce air pollution from more than 200 chemical plants across the U.S., including many in Texas, Louisiana, Delaware, New Jersey and the Ohio River Valley.
Among other things, the tightening up of Clean Air Act standards would require more chemical plants to monitor air pollution along their fencelines to detect if hazardous pollutants are drifting offsite into nearby neighborhoods, and then take action to stop the pollution if it exceeded a certain threshold. The total net effect, EPA argued, would be an annual reduction of about 6,000 tons of air toxics and 23,000 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds.
However, after the rule was released, a close examination by EIP and allies revealed that EPA made the regulations too weak because the agency significantly underestimated emissions from the plants. In fact, the amounts of ethylene oxide actually measured at the fencelines of the plants far exceed the amounts used by EPA as a baseline for setting the new standards.
The regulations also allow chemical plants to release too much ethylene oxide through flares attached to vents and storage tanks, the environmental groups argue. The rule allows chemical plants to use these ineffective air pollution control devices, which still allow large amounts of this highly dangerous, cancer-causing pollutant to escape into nearby communities. More effective pollution control devices would eliminate nearly all of the toxic chemical.
For a copy of the lawsuit, click here. The full list of organizations participating in the legal action is: Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, California Communities Against Toxics, Air Alliance Houston, Concerned Citizens of St. John, Rise St. James Louisiana, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Air Alliance Houston, and California Communities Against Toxics.
The Environmental Integrity Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health and our natural resources by holding polluters and government agencies accountable under the law, advocating for tough but fair environmental standards, and empowering communities fighting for clean air and clean water.
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Media contacts: Tom Pelton, Environmental Integrity Project (443) 510-2574 or tpelton@environmentalintegrity.org
Zahra Ahmad, Earthjustice (517) 898-0924 or zahmad@earthjustice.org
Photo: iStockphoto.com
