Court upholds EPA air quality standards

TATUM – Our news partners at KETK report that the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided last week to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s designation that Panola and Rusk counties do not meet national air quality standards for harmful dioxide due to a local coal plant. According to the Sierra Club, the EPA made its original nonattainment designation for the two counties in the 2010 sulfur dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Locals also raised health concerns in 2019 over possible exposure from the Martin Lake coal plant pollution.

“The Fifth Circuit decision is welcome news because it cements EPA’s obligation to impose permanent and enforceable emission reductions at the Martin Lake coal plant – the biggest sulfur dioxide polluter in the entire U.S.,” Josh Smith, a Sierra Club attorney who helped lead the case, said. “This will help ensure that the communities surrounding the coal plant can soon enjoy lower levels of pollution and come into attainment with national air quality standards.”

The Sierra Club announced in July the EPA had agreed to settle a lawsuit with them in a separate case over the pollution. As part of the proposed settlement, the EPA must either approve a Texas plan to reduce sulfur dioxide pollution or reject it and issue a federal plan as required by the Clean Air Act no later than Dec. 31, 2024.

According to the EPA, short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide can harm the human respiratory system and make breathing difficult.

“The people of East Texas want and deserve clean air,” Misti O’Quinn, a Sierra Club field organizer in Dallas and East Texas, said in a release. “We are all celebrating this decision because it will finally require Luminant, which has the money to install and use this pollution-reducing technology, to actually do so. It will level the playing field – it’s what we’ve been working so hard to achieve.”

The Sierra Club said in a release the court of appeals opinion was necessary to affirm the settlement, which they expect to be given final approval in the coming months.