LOS ANGELES – People who live near cement plants in California are getting some relief from the risks of toxic emissions. A federal court ruled Friday that the EPA can no longer let cement plants off the hook for fines if the plants spew dangerous pollution and claim it was by mistake.
“It said no more loophole. If you had what you call an ‘upset’ that leads to you violating your emission standard and emitting more pollution than you’re allowed to, you’re on the hook for having to pay monetary penalties.”
He says the EPA – and polluters – are now on notice that standards have to be fully enforceable.
California has ten cement plants, with the majority in Southern California. Johnson says the ruling will especially help those people living near plants in eastern Kern County, east of Bakersfield.
“They live in between three cement plants that burn coal, they burn tires, and they emit mercury and particulate matter, and they force these people to breathe this stuff in,” he charged.
Johnson says the standards put on cement plants are not unachievable. In fact, he says, they could still be even tougher.
“Even plants that weren’t achieving these standards already have taken steps and in some cases come into compliance with these rules,” he said. “And that includes plants in California, in Cupertino.”
Johnson says Earthjustice has been working for more than a decade to reduce dangerous emissions from cement-making on behalf of groups including California’s Desert Citizens Against Pollution.
Johnson sees the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as having a potential effect on efforts at combating climate change.
“The loophole that EPA put into the cement plant rule is one that it was proposing to put into its rule governing greenhouse-gas pollution from power plants. And this ruling says they can’t do that,” he declared.
The decision comes as activists prepare to celebrate Earth Day Tuesday and the EPA launches an Earth Week initiative aimed at getting Americans to reduce their carbon footprints.
More by Lori Abbott at publicnewsservice.org.