Frontline community groups collaborated with national environmental organizations on Wednesday to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for exempting chemical plants from regulations limiting toxic air pollution.
The lawsuit challenges a executive order from July granting 50 facilities a two-year exemption from a Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule. This regulation aimed to reduce air toxics like ethylene oxide and chloroprene. The 2024 Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) rule was expected to lower air pollution risks by 96% for communities near these plants and cut emissions by over 6,200 tons annually.
The lawsuit, involving Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, the Environmental Defense Fund, and others, claims President Trump’s exemption unlawfully increases health risks in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and elsewhere.
“Extending the exemption means two more years of toxic exposure,” said Sharon Lavigne, the founder of RISE St. James.
The lawsuit aims to uphold the HON rule’s pollution restrictions and challenge the administration’s unilateral decision-making, according to NRDC senior attorney Sarah Buckley.
“This exemption blocks crucial health protections for 50 communities,” Buckley stated. “We can’t let this misuse of power go unchecked.”
The EPA declined to comment on pending litigation.
The executive order provided exemptions to 50 out of 217 facilities, primarily in the Gulf South, including 17 in Texas and 18 in Louisiana, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
“The President used legal authority to grant these exemptions, allowing more time to comply with standards,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.
Nearly half of Americans live with unhealthy air pollution, with the situation worsening in communities of color, the American Lung Association reports. The Trump administration is rolling back environmental protections, impacting low-income communities disproportionately.
In Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, a petrochemical industry hub, residents face high cancer rates due to pollutants like ethylene oxide and chloroprene, linked to serious health risks.
Johns Hopkins University researchers found ethylene oxide levels over 1,000 times the safe limit in Cancer Alley. Robert Taylor, a resident of Reserve, Louisiana, near exempt facilities, faces high pollution and cancer risks.
Taylor, co-founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John, hopes the lawsuit overturns exemptions. “It’s outrageous we live like this,” Taylor stated.
Trump’s proclamation relied on a Clean Air Act provision allowing exemptions for national security or if technology isn’t available. The lawsuit argues these conditions weren’t met as pollution control technology is accessible, and claims the order “exceeds the President’s lawful authority.”
The government typically has 60 days to respond, but the process may extend due to a government shutdown, Buckley noted.
For Lavigne, who has lost loved ones to cancer, the fight is deeply personal. “We have so many people diagnosed with cancer because of the pollution,” she said.
Original Story at insideclimatenews.org