FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Monday, July 17, 2023
CONTACT: Sarah Tresedder, sarah.tresedder@sierraclub.org
Renner Barsalla, renna.barsalla@sierraclub.org
Detroit’s Ozone Levels are Unsafe
Sierra Club files lawsuits challenging EPA decisions that stall progress on reducing ozone-causing pollution
Detroit, MI - Today, Sierra Club filed two Clean Air Act lawsuits against the EPA, challenging their plan to redesignate the Detroit region as meeting health standards for ground-level ozone, and a related action which purported to find that air monitors are not showing an ozone problem, both of which were finalized in May. Left to stand, these actions end the need for Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to plan for new reductions of ozone precursors such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This comes at a time when asthma rates, which are caused and triggered by ozone, are rising in Detroit, especially in Black communities. Sierra Club is represented in the cases by its own Environmental Law Program and the Detroit-based Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
“Rather than taking meaningful steps to reduce ozone pollution in Detroit and the surrounding region, the EPA and EGLE have prematurely declared the problem solved. The data says otherwise: ozone pollution in Detroit continues to plague the city and environmental justice communities will continue to suffer from asthma and other health problems if we simply ignore the problem. We are filing these lawsuits today because our environmental justice communities deserve clean air and EGLE and the EPA must be accountable and take the necessary actions to protect their health.” explained Elena Saxonhouse, senior attorney for Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program
“Ozone pollution levels have violated federal standards for years in Detroit. My community is choking on asthma and cancer-causing pollutants and we need the EPA and EGLE to step up and protect us. I’m hopeful these filings will force our state and federal agencies to step up and take real action to reduce ozone levels” said Rhonda Anderson, environmental justice advocate and Sierra Club leader.
“EGLE and EPA have prioritized protecting industry over people. The Eastside of Detroit has the highest asthma hospitalization rates in Michigan and ozone pollution in our community is currently above the health-based air quality standards. Rather than take action to lower ozone pollution and protect my community, EGLE and EPA have decided to ignore the problem.” said Detroit resident Robert Shobe.
“The data used by the EPA to make these decisions is not necessarily representative of actual long-term ozone levels for Detroit and the surrounding seven-county region. EPA failed to take into account a number of factors and now our communities will suffer if we don’t take a stand” said Nick Leonard, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
“The ball is being dropped in the protection of our community, specifically in communities of color by the very ones sworn in to protect us. It's time that EGLE and the EPA choose people over politics and listen to the data and science that is telling us we need to take urgent action. The air monitors aren't lying, the data isn't lying, and our communities are hurting.” said Ebony Elmore, an educator and leader of Sierra Club’s Just Transition team, “The cumulative impact of what polluting industries are emitting, along with the recent wildfires in Canada, are injuring, and in some cases killing, defenseless populations including our children. As a lifelong resident and early educator in a community impacted by poor air quality, I urge the EPA and EGLE to not take a pause on this issue but to forge on in protecting us all, NOW and in the future while there is still time.”
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