Environmental Groups Sue EPA to Finalize Pollution Permit at Four Corners Coal Plant

San Juan County, NM -- Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, Amigos Bravos, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit today in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for an order requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize the Four Corners Generating Station’s water pollution permit.

The EPA has missed three permitting cycles to update the coal plant’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water pollution permit that was last issued in 2001. This delay is causing significant environmental harm that would be minimized under an updated NPDES permit, which has incorporated new pollution monitoring and control requirements over the last 17 years.

Without an updated permit, the community surrounding the Four Corners coal plant remains exposed to pollutants that are discharged into the San Juan River. New Mexico’s San Juan County, where the Four Corners coal plant is located, is among the 10 percent of counties in the United States with the worst exposure to toxic releases. In addition, the San Juan River contains critical habitat for the federally endangered Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker.

Adella Begaye, President of Navajo group Diné CARE issued the following statement:

“Our people, our water, and our wildlife have been sacrificed by the EPA’s inability to hold polluters accountable. All we are asking is for the EPA to do its job of protecting us, and our environment, from the toxic coal pollution that we know is poisoning our community.”

Rachel Conn, Projects Director, Amigos Bravos:

“Mercury contamination, much of it from coal plants like the Four Corners Power Plant, is the leading cause of pollution in New Mexico’s lakes and reservoirs - over 60,000 acres of these waters are officially considered contaminated with Mercury. The EPA has the duty to make sure that the waters and communities surrounding the Four Corners Power Plant are protected from this contamination.”

Mike Eisenfeld, Energy and Climate Program Manager, San Juan Citizens Alliance:

“The EPA has a responsibility to protect the environment and local communities around coal plants, like Four Corners. Contaminants from the coal plant entering the San Juan River are unacceptable.”

Taylor McKinnon, Public Lands Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity:

“The victims of EPA’s inexcusable delays are local families, the San Juan River and its endangered fish. The San Juan Basin deserves the same protection from deadly pollution that the rest of America expects. It deserves that protection now.”

Camilla Feibelman, Director, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter:

“The EPA is long overdue on their update of the pollution permit for the Four Corners coal plant. The families in San Juan County deserve clean water protections, and they shouldn’t have to wait any longer.”

Gloria Smith, Managing Attorney, Sierra Club:

“The water pollution permit for the Four Corners coal plant is based on facts and technology from last century. In 2018, it is unconscionable for the EPA not to protect public health and the environment from the coal pollution that now flows into the San Juan River.”