Lawsuit Targets Air Pollution at Aging CEMEX Cement Plant in Lyons

Pollution Threatens Public Health and Damages Rocky Mountain National Park

Denver-Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and WildEarth Guardians filed suit today against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its failure to overturn a state-issued air pollution permit for the aging CEMEX cement plant near Lyons in north Boulder County. The cement plant burns coal to fire a kiln, releasing significant amounts of smog forming pollution, mercury, dioxin, and other compounds that are harmful to public health and special places like Rocky Mountain National Park.

At issue is the failure of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to limit harmful nitrogen oxide pollution, or NOx, from the smokestack of the cement plant. NOx can damage lungs and react to form ozone air pollution, the key ingredient of smog. The Front Range region, including Boulder County, is currently in violation of federal health limits for ozone. NOx is also leading to nitrogen deposition in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, acidifying streams and degrading this magnificent mountain ecosystem that every year attracts more than three million visitors.

“CEMEX’s cement plant is poisoning our air, endangering our children, our families, and a crown jewel of our National Parks ,” said Jeremy Nichols, Director of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action. “We need safeguards from this harmful air pollution and our lawsuit gets us one step closer to the clean air we all need.”

Every year, the cement plant spews up to 5.2 million pounds of NOx from its smokestacks, equal to the amount released by over 130,000 cars (according to the EPA a car releases 38.2 pounds of nitrogen oxide a year, www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/f00013.htm).

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has notified CEMEX, the EPA, and the State of Colorado that CEMEX’s NOx pollution is illegal. The Lyons cement plant was built in 1969 and at the time exempt from clean air laws. However, between 1980 and the present, the plant was upgraded several times, triggering a Clean Air Act requirement that up-to-date controls be used to reduce NOx pollution. Ignoring this, CEMEX continues to operate the Lyons cement plant without up-to-date NOx pollution controls, endangering public health and Rocky Mountain National Park.

In 2007, both the EPA and Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action cited CEMEX for illegally failing to reduce NOx pollution. Despite documented violations, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment renewed CEMEX’s air pollution permit, allowing them to continue to operate without requiring any limits on NOx pollution.

Because states cannot issue an air pollution permit that allows polluters to violate clean air laws, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action last March filed a petition with the EPA to overturn CEMEX’s permit. Under the Clean Air Act, citizens can petition the EPA to veto state-issued permits. By law, the EPA was required to respond in 60 days, but has so far failed to issue a ruling.

“Sadly, the EPA’s footdragging has delayed protection for our clean air, our health, and our environment,” said Nichols. “We can’t wait around for clean air to happen, there’s too much at stake to simply allow CEMEX to keep polluting.”

If the petition is successful, CEMEX may ultimately be required to install up-to-date NOx pollution controls. An engineering report commissioned by Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action found that a technology called selective catalytic reduction, which is similar to a catalytic converter on a car, could cost-effectively reduce NOx emissions by 90% or more.

This same technology could also help to reduce mercury emissions. According to the CEMEX’s own data, the Lyons cement plant releases 53 pounds of mercury annually. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is especially harmful to developing babies. The amount of mercury released by the CEMEX cement plant is enough to contaminate a lake with a surface area of more than 353,000 acres, or nearly 75% of Boulder County.

Today’s lawsuit, which was filed against the EPA Administrator in Washington, D.C., challenges the EPA’s failure to respond to Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action’s petition to overturn CEMEX’s air pollution permit. The petition can be downloaded at http://ourcleanair.org/uploads/2008-3-20_Title_V_Petition.pdf. The lawsuit can be downloaded at http://ourcleanair.org/uploads/COMPLAINTCEMEXTITLEVFINAL_080813.pdf.

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action is partnering with WildEarth Guardians to protect and restore wild places, wildlife, and wild rivers in the American West.


 

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