April 27th, 2020: On April 27th, Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the DC District Court against the EPA for failing to hold Texas accountable for harmful levels of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) pollution by not requiring the state to submit a state implementation plan (“SIP”), in violation of the Clean Air Act.
Luminant’s Martin Lake coal-fired power plant is the worst SO₂ polluter in the country, emitting over 93 million pounds of SO₂ into the air in 2019 alone. Texas’ own air quality monitoring data demonstrates that the plant routinely causes pollution levels that significantly exceed the EPA health based safeguards, putting the health of the surrounding Texas communities at risk. Children, the elderly, and adults with asthma are particularly vulnerable. An analysis conducted in 2017 by Dr. George Thurston demonstrated that pollution from Martin Lake also contributes to more than 100 premature deaths annually, thousands of asthma attacks, lost work, lost school days, and more than $1 billion in public health costs every year. Additionally, recent studies have shown how communities with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from Covid-19.
Sierra Club is represented by ELP attorneys Joshua Smith and Matthew Miller, and supported by research analyst Lauren Hogrewe. Read more about the legal action and Sierra Club’s advocacy in the official press release here.